Sexual Harassment Faced by Female Nursing Students During Clinical Practices

Abstract

Nursing students may be exposed to all types of violence in clinical practice places. Aim: The aim of this paper was to assess the sexual harassment faced by female nursing students during the clinical practices. Material and Method: Descriptive design was used. Subjects: All female nursing students, who were enrolled in the first and second classes of the academic year 2014-2015 at the Faculty of Nursing, Sohag University. Their number was (226). Setting: Faculty of Nursing, Sohag University. A structured interviewing questionnaire sheet was used to collect necessary data. Results: The majority of students in clinical areas were exposed to sexual harassment in the form of sexual words, calls/messages and unwanted touches, by the patients' relatives/friends. The causes of harassment were moral deterioration, and fear of scandal was the reason for not-reporting from student's side. The students also reported that the harassment had an impact on the level of work satisfaction, their families and social life and their somatic and psychological state. The reactions adopted by sixty percent of the target nurses toward this phenomenon were negligence, which puts limits on and notify the higher authority. The nurses′ strategies to face the harassment were documenting each incident and initiating legal action, conviction of sexual abuses, reinforce a heavy penalty on sexual harasser, improve nurses′ image in mass media by about ninety percent. Conclusion: Sexual harassment among students was high in clinical practices, and had an effect physically, psychologically and on all aspects of their lives, and may be a causative factor in the attrition of nurses from the nursing profession, in addition to poor work performance. Recommendations: Health care facilities should adopt policies and develop strategies which aim at to minimizing harassment to create an enthusiastic and safe working environment within it, with intensive studies in this regard on different categories of the nurses.

Loss of Individual and Social Identity: Consequences of Sexual Harassment of Iranian Nurses in the Workplace

“…Sexual harassment in the workplace has a negative impact on one’s job. According to the current study’s findings, sexual harassment is associated with factors that contribute to burnout, such as loss of occupational motivation ( Tollstern Landin et al, 2020 ), job dissatisfaction ( Nielsen et al, 2010 ; Ali and Ezz El Rigal, 2019 ; Maghraby et al, 2020 ), loss of job and negative job effects ( Gabay and Shafran Tikva, 2020 ; Maghraby et al, 2020 ), problems with routine work processes ( Nielsen et al, 2017 ), and negative effects on patient care ( Kim et al, 2018 ; Gabay and Shafran Tikva, 2020 ). Tollstern Landin et al (2020) demonstrated that sexual harassment could be a serious job risk and stigma for nurses in Tanzania, Africa, and an important factor in losing occupational motivation ( Tollstern Landin et al, 2020 ).…”

“…This refers to the psychological problems nurses face because of the negative consequences of sexual harassment in the workplace. Several studies, including this one, have found that sexual harassment can have negative psychological effects such as mental health disorders ( Nielsen et al, 2010 ; Ali and Ezz El Rigal, 2019 ), sadness, shame, and anger ( Tollstern Landin et al, 2020 ). Psychological imbalances can cause severe negative emotions and fear in nurses ( Nielsen et al, 2017 ; Kim et al, 2018 ).…”

“… Nielsen et al (2010) discovered a correlation between sexual harassment and mental health in nurses ( Nielsen et al, 2010 ). According to Ali and Ezz El Rigal (2019) , sexual harassment of nursing students had an impact on their physical and mental health, and more than half of nurses complained of mental disorders, with a significant percentage of them complaining of insomnia. According to Tollstern Landin et al (2020) , victims of sexual harassment were upset when they returned to work and felt ashamed, angry, and depressed, which could have a negative psychological impact on nurses.…”

“… Tollstern Landin et al (2020) demonstrated that sexual harassment could be a serious job risk and stigma for nurses in Tanzania, Africa, and an important factor in losing occupational motivation ( Tollstern Landin et al, 2020 ). Similarly, Ali and Ezz El Rigal (2019) discovered that sexual harassment had an impact on nursing students’ job satisfaction ( Ali and Ezz El Rigal, 2019 ). According to Maghraby et al (2020) , sexual harassment was associated with lower job satisfaction, which was the main complaint reported by more than half of the sexually harassed nurses (64.2%).…”

“…Furthermore, sexual harassment in the hospital setting can result in a reduction or loss of proper nursing care, affecting patient care ( Nielsen et al, 2017 ; Kim et al, 2018 ). According to Ali and Ezz El Rigal (2019) , sexual harassment in nursing students is prevalent in the clinical setting, affecting them physically, mentally, and in all aspects of their lives, and can lead to nurse’s burnout and poor practice. According to Kim et al (2018) sexually harassed nurses experienced severe negative emotions.…”