Fostering Healthy Work Environments: Powered by Civility, Collegiality, and Teamwork

Description/Overview: Incivility in the health care workplace can have devastating and lasting effects on individuals, teams, organizations, and ultimately patient care. Further, incivility negatively impacts nurse recruitment, retention, teamwork, and job satisfaction. All nurses regardless of setting or position have an ethical imperative to create and sustain healthy work places and to foster an atmosphere of dignity and respect. Every year since 1999 (except 2001 following the 9/11 attacks, when first responders were rated higher), Americans responding to Gallop Polls rate nurses as highest on honesty and ethical standards. While this distinction is impressive, it is important for nurses to consistently display actions that merit this high honor. Nursing practice is guided by codes of ethics detailing the moral and ethical imperatives for nurses. The American Nurses Association (ANA) Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements (2015) clearly articulates the nursing’s obligation to foster safe, ethical, civil workplaces. For example, Provision 1.5 Requires nurses “to create an ethical environment and culture of civility and kindness, treating colleagues, co-workers, employees, students, and others with dignity and respect…and that any form of bullying, harassment, intimidation, manipulation, threats or violence will not be tolerated” (p. 4). Provision 6 states, “the nurse, through individual and collective effort, establishes, maintains, and improves the ethical environment of the work setting and conditions of employment that are conducive to safe, quality health care” (p. 23). These provisions support the need for civil actions that must be continuously demonstrated by nurses in all areas of nursing education and practice. Fortunately, nurses in academic and practice settings are eager to address these issues and implement evidence-based, workable solutions to create and sustain healthy workplaces. Imagine a dynamic workplace that is a joy to experience each day - an environment in which you can truly thrive in your career and profession. Join a renowned nurse researcher and accomplished author for a lively and interactive session on creating and sustaining a culture of civility in nursing education and practice, and discover several ready-to-use strategies to foster collegiality including an evidence-based tool to assess the health of your own workplace.