Civility Training for Faculty Using Role-Play: Creating a Healthy Clinical Environment to Maximize Student Learning

Background There is an increased presence of incivility among nurses within the practice environment (Clark, 2017). Often uncivil behavior is a result of job dissatisfaction, leading to higher turnover intentions and poor physical health (Babenko-Mould & Laschinger, 2014; Gilin Oore et al., 2010; Laschinger, Leiter, Day, Gilin Oore, & Mackinnon, 2012; Luparell, 2011).Moreover, students are often exposed to incivility when theygo to the practice environment for a clinical guided experience. Unfortunately, students who experience incivility in the clinical setting are fearful and have barriers in their abilities to learn (Altmiller, 2012). Clinical faculty must address the issue of incivility to help create a culture of civility (Clark, 2017 & Clark & Springer, 2010) and foster a healthy work environment that ensure these encounters are not a barrier to student learning.

PurposeThe purpose of this project was to provide tools and roleplay simulation to teach nursing faculty how to manage uncivil interactions and to exemplify a healthy work environment among faculty, staff, and nursing students. The aim of this project was to increase teamwork and collaboration between faculty, nursing students and nursing staff to maximize learning in the clinical setting.

Methods Nursing clinical faculty were offered a one hour CE training entitled “Civility Training to Create a Healthy Work Environment.” The workshop included information on incivility and how to navigate and resolve conflict issues that arise in the clinical setting between nursing students, nursing staff, and faculty. Strategies were discussed during this workshop to describe and ensure ways to foster a healthy work environment. Then faculty participated in role play and discussion. Video vignettes of student’s experience and encounters with incivility were shown at the workshop.

EvaluationFollowing the workshop training, CE evaluation was given to the participants. Using a likert rating scale (1=strongly disagree and 5=strongly agree). 100% strongly agreed that this workshop increased awareness and understanding of incivility. Faculty stated they learned, how to recognize incivility and to use resources to provide support in the clinical work environment. Overall, this training provided resources and strategies to manage conflict while in the clinical setting. Follow-up discussion among faculty who have implemented these strategies, in their clinical course, indicated they were able to resolve and redirect problems when they occurred. Resulting in a more cohesive work environment.

SummaryDuring the workshop, faculty were able to discuss how incivility plays a role in student learning while at clinical. Role-play was used to help clinical faculty learn how to manage uncivil interactions among nurses in the practice environment. The goal for this activity was to minimize or eliminate problematic interactions between nurses, students, and faculty in the practice setting. Teaching faculty how to manage incivility in the practice environment can ultimately foster a healthy work environment ensuring teamwork and collaboration. In turn, this may enable maximum student learning in clinical rotations and confidence in approaching, communicating and collaborating with the staff nurses in the practice environment.