Registered Nurses’ Lived Experiences of Peer-to-Peer Incivility in the Workplace

Sunday, 19 March 2017: 10:00 AM

Susan Condie, PhD
College of Nursing - Orange County campus, West Coast University, Anaheim, CA, USA

Incivility negatively interferes with patient care delivery, nursing retention, as well as medical costs. Disregard for another’s knowledge and skills through rude

and discourteous actions that prevent others from thriving is an actual depiction of an uncivil workplace. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore

registered nurses’ lived experiences of peer to peer incivility in the workplace. An aim of this study was to understand the participants’ experiences of peer to

peer incivility in the workplace, its effect on patient safety and nursing job satisfaction and retention.

Descriptive phenomenology was used for this study on the lived experience of being a registered nurse who has encountered peer to peer incivility in the

workplace. Participants were enrolled using a combination of purposive and snowball sampling. Semi-structured interviews were audiotaped and conducted with

participants who had experience with peer to peer incivility in the workplace. Data were collected until saturation was achieved. The audiotapes were

transcribed and analyzed for common themes that represented the participants’ experiences with peer to peer incivility. Based on the findings of this study,

suggestions are offered for further research and required actions to elevate the work atmosphere of the nurse from uncivil to a healthy and professional

workplace.

The study findings have substantial implications for nursing education, nursing practice, nursing research, and nursing science. This investigation provides novel

information about experiences with uncivil peers and relates the experience to being in a war-zone. The study also allowed the participants to discuss their lived

experience of peer to peer incivility in nursing. Some participants shared their perceptions of the impact on safe patient care, retention of nurses, and medical

costs. Finally, this study suggests what it is like to be a nurse who has experienced peer to peer incivility and how that experience has affected their decision to

remain in their nursing position.