Manipulating mentors' assessment decisions: The coercive strategies that student nurses use to influence mentors' practical assessment decisions

There is growing evidence that some students can be disrespectful and rude towards their university lecturers. However, there has been little investigation into whether student nurses exhibit similar behaviours towards mentors during practice based placements, particularly when they are not meeting the required practical learning outcomes. This paper adds new evidence that student nurses can use coercive and manipulative behaviour to elicit a pass grade. This paper presents one particular finding from a research study about practical assessment which demonstrates four types of coercive student behaviours. These are and classified as: ingratiators, diverters, disparagers and aggressors. The effects of each type of behaviour are discussed and considered in the light of psychological contracts.