Incivility in Nursing Classrooms

Background: In recent years the prevalence of incivility in educational settings has received heightened attention in academic and popular press. In light of nursing’s position as a profession of humanistic, caring interaction, measures to reduce incivility are of dire need in the academic setting. The presence of uncivil behaviors not only diminishes the modeling of professional nursing and fails to set a standard of acceptable behavior, but restricts learning and destroys the educational environment (Altmiller, 2012; Clark & Springer, 2007; Luparell, 2007; Robertson, 2012). The incidences occur student to student, faculty to student, and faculty to faculty in the clinical and classroom settings. These types of uncivil behavior can be verbal or physical, and mild to extreme. The least frequent but most violent display of uncivil behavior is the shooting of faculty and students on university campuses across the country (Anthony & Yastik, 2011; Clark, 2008; DalPazzo & Jett, 2010; Robertson, 2012). Missing from current research is the study of whether faculty, using a conscious, caring approach are able to defuse escalating uncivil encounters. The purpose of this phenomenological investigation was to describe the lived experiences of nursing faculty who have experienced or witnessed incivility in the classroom and to elicit reflection on how these situations might have been defused.

Method: A phenomenological approach was used to guide data collection and analysis. Purposive sampling will be used to recruit 10 nurse educators who self-identify as having experienced incivility in the classroom as a nurse educator. Participants meeting the inclusion criteria participated in single session, 60 minute interviews with one of the co-researchers. Inclusion criteria consisted of possessing a Master’s degree in nursing and have been employed in a school-based, classroom setting as nurse educator for longer than 12 months.

Findings: Two themes were identified: The first theme, Tolerance, illustrated how perpetuation of incivility occurred. A second theme, Opportunities to Diffuse, addressed actions that could, and were, taken to deescalate incivility through conscious action.

Recommendations: Being able to identify factors and situations where uncivil actions are likely to occur can help the individuals involved prepare to intervene or diffuse the situation and avoid the actions all together. Administration of academic institutions must develop, implement, and enforce policies against uncivil behaviors and the disciplinary actions to be taken when the policies are violated. To reduce the incidences of incivility, faculty must commit to learning and utilizing effective, therapeutic communication skills. The commitment to maintaining a caring and civil environment should be supported by workshops and in-service training focused on helping individuals develop and practice the skills needed to effectively communicate with each other during stressful times. Upon entry to the nursing program, students should be immersed in the expectation that their behavior always stays professional, caring and civil. The commitment of faculty to being an example of this behavior is necessary. The caring environment is interrupted when students or faculty display uncivil, uncaring behaviors. Incivility must be addressed and dealt with immediately in order to instill and maintain the appropriate caring behaviors in nursing students. This is key to continuing the legacy of caring in the nursing profession.