NR 500 Week 7 Assignment-Cultivating Healthful Environments
Incivility is a growing issue that nursing students and educators face in the academic environment. Speech or disrespectful or rude actions, ranging from insulting remarks to explosive behaviors, describe uncivil environments (Schaeffer, 2013). Victims of incivility may experience both physiological and psychological distress. Disruptive, uncivil behaviors in the learning environment create negative experiences and impact the students learning potential. Healthful educational environments develop a culture of positivity, collaborative teamwork, and a harmonious learning atmosphere for all involved. This paper will address the issues of incivility, and its importance to nursing, provide an example of incivility, provide strategies for creating a healthful environment, and describe practical applications for a master-prepared nurse educator.
Issues of Incivility
Incivility in academia noted by faculty or students may be bullying, academic dishonesty, and disruptive behaviors.(Muliira, Natarajan, & van der Colff, 2017).
When left unaddressed, incivility may progress from low-risk behaviors into high-risk behaviors. Disrespect in the education environment results
in reduced learning potential, absenteeism, decreased commitment, and high attrition rates, all impacting the nursing profession (Shanta & Eliason, 2013). Incivility often invokes anxiety, anger, and self-doubt in the student. Incivility jeopardizes goal attainment and the culture of safety for students and faculty. Nursing education aims to produce empathetic, caring nurses, which may not be possible for students who experience incivility in their academic environments (Schaeffer, 2013).
NR 500 Week 7 Assignment-Cultivating Healthful Environments
Importance to Nursing
Research shows the effects of incivility are not limited to nursing academia and often continue into the newly graduated nurses’ work environments (Palumbo, 2018). Students who experience uncivil behaviors may be confused as they are taught that nursing is founded on the principle of caring. Students and new nurses are often the most vulnerable in healthcare. The nursing academic environment should be tended as a place of growth and development for future nurses, but this is not possible when incivility is present (DeMarco, Fawcett, & Mazzawi, 2017). Students who experience abusive behaviors by faculty and other students have reported physical symptoms such as anxiety, mood disorders, gastrointestinal distress, and depression, as well as other physical ailments which may lead them to quit school. With the current nursing and nursing faculty shortage in the United States, nursing students and faculty attrition are of significant concern, and healthcare cannot afford to lose any (Schaeffer, 2013). This impacts micro-level patients as nurses are needed to enter hospitals and community centers. As students transition into practice, they have the potential to become preceptors themselves, and those who have experienced incivility may adopt the same uncivil behaviors, further perpetuating the issue. A vicious cycle ensues that may result in poor patient care and outcomes. Academic institutions must recognize the importance of incivility in education as being crucial to students, instructors, and the profession of nursing.
Storytelling
The following is a story of a student in a diploma nursing program in the early 1980s. Diploma programs were known for being rigid with high academic standards and producing high-quality nurse graduates. This student entered her medical-surgical rotation with fear of hearing that Ms. B was the instructor. All the students knew of Ms. B’s reputation for making students cry and her ability to make students contemplate quitting the program. Ms. B used intimidation, bullying, and yelling to communicate. Despite the student being well prepared for clinical, Ms. B continued to berate her with insults during any interaction. The student refused to cry in front of the instructor, although she cried many tears out of sight. She thought of quitting but would not give Ms. B. the satisfaction of seeing another student drop out because of her. It was 18 weeks of pure torture for the student. She experienced anxiety, weight loss due to nausea and vomiting, and a lack of self-confidence. At the end of the rotation, Ms. B informed the student that if she graduated from the program, which she doubted was likely, the student would never make it as a nurse. The term incivility was not discussed back then, so the uncivil behaviors displayed by Ms. B were tolerated. It’s the way things were then. As a result of her interactions with Ms. B, the student promised never to treat another student in the manner she experienced. The interactions inspired her to study harder, proving to Ms. B that she would graduate and become the excellent, caring nurse she dreamed of becoming.
NR 500 Week 7 Assignment-Cultivating Healthful Environments
Creating Healthful Environments
A healthful nursing academic environment fosters relationships and promotes positive learning experiences for faculty and students. Several strategies for combating incivility include acknowledgment, improving communication, and role-playing. The American Nurses Association ([ANA],2015) position statement, “Incivility, Bullying, and Workplace Violence,” states that the first step is acknowledging the presence of incivility, the need to change the organizational culture, and a commitment to overcome the challenge of disrespect. Non-recognition of the existence of disrespect will be detrimental to an academic program. Creating a culture of respect through civility with open communication between students and faculty is another strategy (DeMarco et al., 2017). Students and faculty should not fear retribution when addressing concerns or reporting incivility. Setting the stage for mutually respectful relationships begins with communication. Training programs focused on communication help the student and faculty develop practical communication skills, mutual respect, and decrease anxiety associated with uncivil contact (Armstrong, 2017). Role-playing or cognitive rehearsal allows participants to improve communication in a non-threatening, safe, and empowering environment (Griffin & Clark, 2014). Role-playing may be challenging initially, but instructor guidance assists participants to express with effective communication.
Practice Application
Nurse educators are responsible for creating an educational environment free of incivility where students learn the psychomotor skills and affective competencies necessary to function as graduate nurses (Shanta & Eliason, 2013). Recognizing and addressing incivility will be imperative for a master’s level prepared nurse educator to create a healthful academic environment for the student. Educators are role models and mentors for future nursing professionals. Role modeling civility toward each other, ts, and t, the interdisciplinary team is expected of nursesnursetors at the forefront of a nurse’s careers (Palumbo, 2018). Communication, collegiality, and autonomy are vital components faculty can employ to decrease incivility in academia. As a master’s prepared educator, applying the concepts in unison will create a civil academic environment.
Conclusion
Incivility in academia disrupts and impedes a healthful learning environment. Nursing students who experience incivility in their nursing program may not develop the necessary skills to transition into practice. Victims of incivility often experience both emotional and physical effects. Creating a healthful academic environment empowers both students and faculty. Strategies for creating those environments begin with recognition of disrespect, active communication that allows students to report disrespect and role-modeling applications.
Masters-prepared nurse educators are the first faculty nursing students to encounter on their journey to becoming registered nurses. As an educator, my actions can either enhance or derail future nurses. I must recognize incivility, employ strategies to decrease it and foster relationships with students to create a healthful academic environment.
References
American Nurses Association, (2015). Incivility, bullying, and workplace violence [Position statement]. Retrieved from https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/nursing- excellence/official-position-statements/id/incivility-bullying-and-workplace-violence/
Armstrong, N. E. (2017). Using quantitative methods, a quality improvement project measures the effect of an evidence-based civility training program on nursing workplace incivility in a rural hospital. Online Journal Of Rural Nursing & Health Care, 17(1), 100-137. http://dx.doi.org/10.14574/ojrnhc.v17i1.438
DeMarco, R. F., Fawcett, J., & Mazzawi, J. (2017). Covert incivility: Challenges as a challenge in the nursing academic workplace. Journal of Professional Nursing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2017.10.001
Griffin, M., & Clark, C. M. (2014). Revisiting cognitive rehearsal as an intervention against incivility and later violence in nursing: 10 years later. Journal Of Continuing Education In Nursing, 45(12)(), 535-544. http://dx.doi.org/10.3928/00220124-20141122-02
Muliira, J. K., Natarajan, J., & van der Colff, J. (2017). Nursing faculty academic incivility: perceptions of nursing students and faculty. BMC Medical Education, 17(253), 2-10. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12909-017-1096-8
Palumbo, R. (2018, March). Incivility in nursing education: An intervention. Nurse Education Today, 66, 143-148. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2018.03.024
Schaeffer, A. (2013, June). The effects of incivility on nursing education. Open Journal of Nursing, 3, 178-181. http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ojn.2013.32023
Shanta, L. L., & Eliason, A. R. (2013, June 17). Application of an empowerment model to improve civility in nursing education. Nurse Education in Practice, 14, 82-86. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2013.06.009
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Question 
Reflect on an experience in which you were directly involved or witnessed incivility in the workplace. Provide a brief synopsis of the situation. How did this make you feel? How did you respond? What were the consequences of this situation? Provide an example of how this negatively affected the work environment & outcomes. How could the case have been prevented? Discuss strategies that would support a healthy work environment.