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. 2019 Apr 25;19(1):116.
doi: 10.1186/s12909-019-1552-8.

It's 'probably the teacher!' A strategic framework for clinical staff engagement in clinical student bullying intervention

Althea Gamble Blakey  1   2 , Kelby Smith-Han  3 , Lynley Anderson  4 , Emma Collins  5 , Elizabeth K Berryman  6 , Tim Wilkinson  3
Affiliations

It's 'probably the teacher!' A strategic framework for clinical staff engagement in clinical student bullying intervention

Althea Gamble Blakey et al. BMC Med Educ. .

Abstract

Background: Student bullying in clinical practice persists, and poor outcomes continue: for learning, academic achievement and career goals, for their mental and physical health and potentially affecting all staff and patients in a clinical workplace. We describe an emergent framework for the strategic design of a bullying intervention, presented as a staff development opportunity.

Methods: CAPLE (Creating A Positive Learning Environment) was a bullying intervention designed around current best evidence about ameliorating student bullying in the clinical environment. CAPLE was also an action research project delivered in two eight- week cycles, one in 2016 & another in 2017. CAPLE's primary practical foci were to offer clinical staff in two separate hospital wards an opportunity to develop their clinical teaching skills and to guide them in reflection and cultivation of values around students and learning. Research foci were: 1. to gain insight into staff experiences of CAPLE as a development process and 2. to evaluate how CAPLE might best help staff reflect on, discuss and develop values around student learning, to include bullying. Staff undertook five active learning workshops combined with supportive contact with one researcher over the research period. Data include individual interviews, staff and researchers' reflective journals and a paper survey about staff experiences of the 2017 intervention.

Results: We confirm the effectiveness of best evidence from the literature and also that a strategic four-part framework of approach, process, content and person can further enhance a bullying intervention by increasing the likelihood of participant engagement, learning and values change.

Conclusions: This research aggregates and adds weight to the current literature about student bullying and adds important pragmatic detail about best practice for bullying intervention design and delivery. Ultimately, this emergent framework offers insight to help move past some persistent barriers encountered by those wishing to improve workplace behaviour.

Keywords: Bullying; Clinical environment; Engagement; Intervention; Mistreatment; Staff development.

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Conflict of interest statement

Authors’ information

A Gamble Blakey is a Research Fellow (Medical Education) and Professional Practice Fellow (Early Learning in Medicine) at the Otago School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin NZ: althea.blakey@otago.ac.nz

K Smith-Han is a Research & Teaching Fellow and Medical Education Research Academic Lead for Otago School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin NZ: kelby.smith-han@otago.ac.nz

L Anderson is an Associate Professor and Head of Department, Bioethics Centre, University of Otago, Dunedin NZ: lynley.anderson@otago.ac.nz

E Collins is a Senior Lecturer, Otago Polytechnic and Staff Nurse, Southern District Health Board, Dunedin NZ: emma.collins@op.ac.nz

E Berryman is a Registered Medical Officer, North Shore Hospital, Waitemata District Health Board, Auckland NZ: egou005@aucklanduni.ac.nz

T Wilkinson is a Professor of Medicine and MBChB Programme Director for Otago Medical School, University of Otago, Dunedin NZ: tim.wilkinson@otago.ac.nz

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The CAPLE project in its entirety was granted ethical approval by the Otago University Human Ethics Committee (Health, reference no. H16/091), in consultation with Māori and appropriate hospital research/locality access process. Ethical approval included a process of consent to participate and participant consent to use of data to inform publications.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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