Impact of Incivility in Nursing

At the 2015 Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses Convention, a tremendous amount of information sharing and collegiality among members occurred. It was a rewarding experience to witness the interaction of nurses networking and communicating about common issues experienced in the clinical setting. On my return home, I began reading Creating & Sustaining Civility in Nursing Education by Dr. Cynthia Clark. As I was reading, I focused on the flip side of our profession: nursing incivility. Lack of civility among nurses is not limited to clinical professional practice. It also occurs in the very educational foundation that prepares nurses for practice. Nursing education experiences incivility with student-to-nursing faculty and faculty-tofaculty interactions. Looking at the bigger picture, incivility runs across many facets of our profession, continuing from one generation of nurses to the next. What constitutes incivility in the profession? How does the incivility of some nurses impact the morale and culture of clinical units? How does incivility impact quality of patient care?

What Is Incivility?

Clark (2013) noted incivility consists of behaviors that demonstrate disrespect and promote conflict while increasing stress among individuals. Uncivil behaviors consistent with Clark's assessment include complaining, lying, gossiping, abusive language, insubordination, scapegoating, and physical/verbal intimidation (Yeo, Belcher, & Yeo, 2011). Individuals who demonstrate incivility are often called bullies. Edmonson and Allard (2013) suggested these individuals often present with low self-esteem, inability...