HORIZONTAL VIOLENCE EXPERIENCED BY NURSING STUDENTS

This exploratory/descriptive study examines horizontal violence and perceived levels of stress experienced by student nurses. King’s (1981) theory of goal attainment was used to guide this research. The research questions to be answered are: what types of horizontal violence do student nurses experience, who inflicts acts of horizontal violence, does age, gender, educational level and educational program influence students’ perceptions, do acts of horizontal violence effect perceived levels of stress, and is there a relationship between educating students about interpersonal relationships and perceived levels of stress? An anonymous 31-item questionnaire was distributed to 31 student nurses. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and indicated that horizontal violence occurs among nursing students and influences their level of stress.