Bully victim identification and intervention program for school nurses—A case study

Abstract

The repeated acts of intimidation that occur with bullying have serious psychological and physical health consequences forvictims and their bullies. Bullying involvement has been shown to predict student visits to the school health office withsomatic complaints, illness, and injury. However, school nurses feel unprepared and unqualified to deal with bullyingissues. This paper presents the results of an educational program designed to train school nurses to identify victims andbullies, and to intervene. A convenience sample of eleven nurses from ten schools in three districts in WesternMassachusetts completed a questionnaire prior to, immediately following, and one month after the educational program.All reported an increase in their ability to recognize the signs and symptoms of bullying behavior and the effects on theirvictims. The nurses indicated a greater likelihood of aiding victims as a result of the program. Educating nurses empowersthem to respond to bullying.