Inappropriate Student Behaviors in Health-Care Professions

     "Inappropriate behavior is on the rise in the academic setting. Unacceptable behaviors range from rude, uncivil actions or words (lateness to class, leaving early, inattention, or verbal disrespect) to physical aggression against other students or instructors. Some educators feel under siege. ...
     Frequently, instructors are the recipients of misdirected hostility as part of a maladaptive pattern on the part of the student. Many professors are voicing increased concern regarding insubordination and aggression on the part of students in the classroom. The willingness of a student to fail to control his or her behavior with an authority figure such as the instructor becomes even more problematic when one considers how this lack of self-control may be demonstrated against peers or vulnerable patients. 
     Why is aggressive student behavior becoming so pronounced and pervasive in the academic setting? ... an entanglement of societal ills, including poverty, racism, substance abuse, inadequate parenting, and exposure to media violence."

        Ehrmann G. Managing the Aggressive Nursing Student. Nursing Educator 2005; 30(3): 98-100.

     But perhaps most important are the combined effects of undiagnosed or inadequately managed psychological illness eg depression ± anxiety, the considerable stresses of professional education, high stakes exams, and high tuition fees / living expenses.

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