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Published on: July 16, 2015
Bullying Behaviors in Clinical Settings: Potentially Harmful Distractions
Dawna Rutherford1, Gordon Lee Gillespie, Scott Bresler
1About the Authors Dawna Rutherford, PhD, RN, adjunct clinical instructor, Salem State University, Salem, Massachusetts, is with Staff Nurse/Traveler RN Network, Nome, Alaska. Gordon Lee Gillespie, PhD, DNP, RN, was professor, College of Nursing, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, when this study was conducted. He is currently chief program officer, National League for Nursing. Scott Bresler, PhD, was clinical director, Division of Forensic Psychiatry, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, when this study was conducted. Kimberly Johnson, PhD, RN, CEN, and Carolyn R. Smith, PhD, RN, CNE, are associate professors, College of Nursing, University of Cincinnati. This study was funded by an award to Dr. Rutherford from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health through the Pilot Research Project Training Program of the University of Cincinnati Education and Research Center Grant #T42OH008432. For more information, contact Dr. Gillespie at ggillespie@nln.org .
Abstract:
Nursing students exposed to bullying behaviors are at risk for making medication errors. For a quasi-experimental study, 15 prelicensure nursing students at a Midwestern university were exposed to simulated bullying behaviors or common distractions while administering medications in a laboratory setting. Data were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis tests. There was no significant difference in medication administration rubric score ( H [2] = 1.489, p = .475) or time spent in room ( H [2] = 1.778, p = .411) between groups. Bullying behaviors and other interruptions distracted nursing students from successfully completing the medication administration simulation.
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