05/24/2026
It starts in some nursing schools.
That is one of the chapters in *The Biology of Bullying* — and today I was reminded exactly why I wrote it.
A student nurse missed a syllabus agreement deadline.
Not the work.
Not the reading.
Not the quiz.
She had already done those.
She missed the agreement form — and was dropped from the class she needs to move forward in her nursing program.
Now she is panicking because one missed checkbox may delay her nursing education by a full year.
Let me be clear.
Nursing school should be hard.
It should require discipline, accountability, time management, professionalism, and follow-through.
But hard is not the same as harmful.
When a student is actively participating, doing the work, and trying to succeed, the response should not automatically be the harshest possible consequence.
That is where the injury begins.
Before nurses ever reach the bedside, many are taught that one mistake means humiliation, exclusion, punishment, and silence.
Then we wonder why nurses enter the profession already scared, guarded, and in survival mode.
This is not about lowering standards.
This is about using judgment.
Because nursing does not need weaker standards.
Nursing needs fewer systems that break people before they even get started.
It starts in nursing school.
And we need to talk about it.
