Experience and Perception of Sexual Harassment During the Clinical Practice and Self-esteem among Nursing Students

The purpose of this study was to investigate the experience and perception of sexual harassment during the clinical practice among nursing students and to identify the relationship between these variables and self-esteem.

Participants included 191 senior nursing students who voluntarily participated. Sexual harassment experiences and perceptions were measured using the tools developed by the researcher. Self-esteem was measured using self-esteem inventory developed by Rogenberg.

50.8% of the participants experienced sexual harassment. Physical harassment was the most common, followed by verbal, visual and gender-role related sexual harassment. 'Blocking the way' and 'Brushing one's body on purpose' were the most common behaviors. The perception of sexual harassment severity was 3.35 out of 5 points. There were negative correlation between sexual harassment experience and self-esteem (r=-.17, p=.013). The subjects who experienced sexual harassment showed lower self-esteem score than those who did not (t=-2.10, p=.037). The main offender was a male patient in 40s, and the psychiatric ward was the most vulnerable to sexual harassment.

Results showed that sexual harassment in clinical practice among nursing students were serious. It is necessary to develop an educational program to prepare them for sexual harassment in clinical practice.