Assessment 3: Case Study on Bullying in Nursing Placement (NUR345)

This essay critically analyzes a case study involving an undergraduate nursing student, Shannon Doe, experiencing potential bullying and unprofessional conduct during a clinical placement at Charles Darwin University Hospital. The scenario highlights interactions with a registered nurse, Tim, which raise concerns about mentorship, communication, and adherence to the NMBA Code of Conduct. The essay examines instances of perceived ageism, inappropriate language, and inadequate feedback, identifying potential violations of professional standards, particularly concerning teaching and supervision. It discusses both formal and informal conflict resolution processes, referencing Safe Work Australia guidelines. Furthermore, the essay emphasizes the negative impacts of bullying on the student's well-being and recommends strategies to foster resilience, including awareness of professional boundaries and development of coping skills. The analysis links the case study events and recommendations to specific NMBA standards and relevant codes of conduct, supported by peer-reviewed literature.

Assessment 3: Case Study
Shannon Doe is a third-year undergraduate nurse on clinical placement at
Charles Darwin University Hospital Medical Ward.
Tuesday Day 2.
Tim greeted Shannon before handover and said, “Sorry I didn’t get back
yesterday during double staffing, I got caught up with the admission of a
palliative patient and discussing his advanced care directive”. Then Tim
asked, "How did you go yesterday?" Shannon replied "I got through it all. I
would like to discuss the placement, my scope of practice and placement
objectives". Tim replied, "I am aware of your scope of practice but we will
find time later today to discuss your placement and your objectives". Then
he added "Much to learn you have young Padawan" and smiled. Shannon
smiled back but remained silent. Shannon didn’t know what a Padawan
was, but ‘young’ sounded ageist.
After handover Tim advised Shannon that they would be looking after
rooms 1 to 5. Room 1 had a 21-year-old woman with Leukemia. Tim asked
Shannon "Where should you look for bleeding?" Wanting to demonstrate
her knowledge Shannon described the coagulation cascade and stated
that "If the woman has low platelets she may bleed and one of the first
places to look for signs of bleeding is the gums and mucous membranes".
Tim replied "Wow, you're a walking textbook" and smiled. "Well done" he
added. Shannon thought that although Tim’s tone and facial expressions
suggested that he just have her a compliment, the term ’walking
textbook’ might be a criticism. Shannon just smiled back to mask her
uncertainty.
Essay:
The case study describes the incidence of bullying or inappropriate treatment by
nursing staffs towards undergraduate nurse who are on clinical placements in hospitals. The
case study described the experience of Shannon, an undergraduate nurse on clinical
placement at Charles Darwin Hospital. Tim, the registered nurse and mentor of Shannon,
did not get in touch with Shannon on her first day. Shannon wanted to know about her
scope of practice and work objectives and Tim did not discussed about the same with her
yet. This displayed unprofessional conduct by Tim. In addition, experience of bullying or
disrespect became evidenced in the scenario because Shannon used inappropriate words
during conversation with Tim which gave her the impression that Shannon was insulting him
instead of encouraging her for good work during placement. Hence, the case study depicts

events of professional misconduct by the nurse and this is in violation with the principle 5 of
the NMBA code of conduct for nurses which states that ‘nurses should commit to teach and
supervise students and avoid conflict of interest during teaching relationship’. The principle
5.2 also mentions that during assessment of colleagues and students, nurses should be
honest, fair and without bias (NMBA, 2018). However, Tim did not engaged in effective
supervision of Shannon and while assessing the knowledge level of Shannon, he used
derogatory words instead of fairly responding to Shannon’s reply to the question.
The event described in the case study is an example of conflict incident as the nurse
Tim was involved in bullying and disrespecting the student nurse, Shannon. There are both
formal and informal methods to deal with such conflict incidents. The informal resolution
process seeks to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. During this procedure, no
disciplinary actions take place. Instead, a no-blame conciliatory approach is used to reach an
outcome that ensures appropriate conduct by both parties in the future. In contrast, the
formal process involved making complaints in writing first followed by meeting with senior
officials. An investigator is then appointed who investigates about the issue and interviews
the alleged bully. This is followed by submission of written reports, appeal, access to
counselling and review of well-being of both parties. During this procedure, professional
counselling and monitoring of behaviours of the affected group is done too (Safe Work
Australia, 2016).
The experience of bullying damaged can have negative impact on Shannon. She may
suffer from low-self esteem, poor confidence, job dissatisfaction and feelings of anxiety and
fear during her future placement. Hence, to ensure that she tackles future placement with
confidence, it is necessary to strengthen Shannon’s resilience by making her aware about
professional boundaries, developing effective responding and coping skills (Hogan et al.,
2018) and implement strategies to integrate lessons for building her lessons (Budden et al.,
2017). The main advantage of being aware about professional boundaries is that it will
enable Shannon to engage safely in professional relationship. This action is compliant with
the standard 4.1 of the NMBA nursing Code of Conduct for nurses which states that nurses
must avoid potential conflicts and adhere to professional boundaries (NMBA, 2018).
Building resilience will help Shannon to prevent conflict of interest and act with integrity
according to standard 4.4 of the Nursing Code of Conduct (NMBA, 2018).

References:
Budden, L. M., Birks, M., Cant, R., Bagley, T., & Park, T. (2017). Australian nursing students’
experience of bullying and/or harassment during clinical placement. Collegian, 24(2),
125-133.
Hogan, R., Orr, F., Fox, D., Cummins, A., & Foureur, M. (2018). Developing nursing and
midwifery students' capacity for coping with bullying and aggression in clinical
settings: Students' evaluation of a learning resource. Nurse education in practice, 29,
89-94.
NMBA (2018).Code of conduct for nurses. Retrieved from:
https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines-Statements/
Professional-standards.aspx
Safe Work Australia (2016). GUIDE FOR PREVENTING AND RESPONDING TO WORKPLACE
BULLYING. Retrieved from:
https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/system/files/documents/1702/guide-
preventing-responding-workplace-bullying.pdf