Stepping out of the shadows: Creating a graphic novella to address bullying in nursing education.

Abstract

The prevalence of bullying in nursing and nursing education is of serious concern. Not only is bullying an issue at the interpersonal level, it is also pervasive at structural and institutional levels. Addressing bullying requires attention to all levels. In previous published work, we emphasized the importance of transparent and easily accessible processes and reporting mechanisms for students if or when they witness or experience bullying in nursing education. In this paper, we describe one of a number of education initiatives designed to inform stakeholders (students, faculty members, clinical instructors, registered nurses, clinical education leaders) about the prevalence of bullying, the nature of bullying, the consequences of bullying, and some strategies to address bullying in nursing education. We chose a creative approach in the form of a graphic novella (aka comic) because we believed that this medium would be visually appealing and user friendly and would therefore draw stakeholders, especially students, to the sensitive nature of the content embedded within it.