BACKGROUND:
Incivility is a problem that exists in nursing education and practice and one that has serious repercussions. Clark and Springer’s (2010) defined incivility as "rude or disruptive behaviors, which often result in physiological or psychological distress for people involved, and if left unaddressed, may progress to a threatening situation" (p. 320). Incivility is known by other terms such as bullying, mobbing, lateral or horizontal violence, and relational aggression hostility (Croft & Cash, 2012; Decker & Shellenbarger, 2012; Dellasega, 2009; Goldberg, Beitz, Wieland, & Levine, 2013). The relationship that student nurses develop with staff nurses have a significant impact on their learning and sense of belonging. Incivility toward nursing students by staff nurses has been reported as contributing to students' negative experiences in the clinical environment and the disruption of the teaching-learning environment (Anthony et al., 2014; Clark & Springer, 2007; Marchiondo, Marchiondo, & Lasiter, 2009). However, these studies do not include students who are English as Second Language (ESL). ESL students may struggle to meet the challenges presented their nursing education program due to differences in their culture and language. As the numbers of ESL students enrolled in nursing education program increase nationally, it is important to study whether culture and language have an impact on their perceptions of incivility. The purpose of the study was to determine whether there was a difference between English as Second Language (ESL) and non-ESL nursing students’ perceptions of staff nurse incivility.
Method:
A three part survey was distributed to nursing students who were members of the National Student Nurses Association. A final sample of 975 survey cases was analyzed using SPSS version 23.0 software.
RESULTS:
Results demonstrated exclusionary behaviors and total incivility scores were statistically different between ESL and non-ESL students. However, the effect size of both findings were extremely low (little practical difference). A significant multivariate result was found in the four scales between the two types of ESL students. Univariate analysis found a significant difference on vertical collectivism which indicates that ESL students had a higher mean and identified themselves more with a vertical collectivism orientation than non-ESL students. However, the effect size of the significant finding was extremely low. Time in program, age, and gender were found best predictors of perceptions of incivility.
CONCLUSION:
This study attempted to explore ESL versus non-ESL nursing students’ perceptions of staff nurse incivility. There was no practical difference in ESL and non-ESL student’s perceptions of staff nurse incivility. However, time in program, age, and gender were characteristics that may help predict which students are more likely to encounter and/or perceive staff nurse incivility. The results of this study clearly point out that although incivility in the clinical setting is an occurrence, the students in this study did not perceive staff nurse incivility to the extent as previously reported in the literature.
Key words: incivility, ESL nursing student, perception