Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Document Type

Dissertation - NSU Access Only

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Nursing Education

Copyright Statement

All rights reserved. This publication is intended for use solely by faculty, students, and staff of Nova Southeastern University. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, now known or later developed, including but not limited to photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author or the publisher.

First Advisor

Gesulla Cavanaugh

Date of original Performance / Presentation

January 2024

Publication Date / Copyright Date

1-1-2024

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background. Incivility, characterized by disrespectful, impolite, discourteous, or rude behaviors that harm others, is a pervasive problem in nursing education and practice. Incivility can lead to increased employee turnover, lack of job satisfaction, poor patient safety, and other adverse outcomes. As nursing students and newly graduated nurses have yet to be fully enculturated into nursing norms, it is imperative to introduce them to training that symbolizes civility, caring, and other positive practices in nursing. Purpose. The current study evaluates an incivility educational intervention for senior nursing students. The study aims are (a) to investigate nursing students’ perspectives on what types of behaviors, spoken or nonspoken, are perceived as uncivil and (b) to evaluate whether an educational intervention on incivility among nursing students would assist students in recognizing incivility in practice. Theoretical Framework. The intervention is guided by Kolb’s experiential learning theory, a constructivist approach that supports the idea that learning creates knowledge through experience transformation. Methods. The study used a one-group, quasi-experimental, pre/post-test design. Participants included students from two campuses within one university. An anonymous online questionnaire consisting of demographics, a 24-item Workplace Incivility Civility Survey (WICS), and a Sixquestion case study evaluation were administered before and immediately after the intervention. Analyses will include descriptive statistics, reliability tests, and independent and dependent ttests. Results. Postintervention assessment scores ranged from 33.33% to 100% correct, with a mean of 86.44% correct (SD = 15.62%). The Shapiro-Wilk test (p < .001) and skewness values x reflected a significant negative skew and higher kurtosis in the distribution. This aligns with responses to the question about the extent to which incivility is a problem in respondents’ workplaces, with over 76% of respondents indicating that it is a mild to moderate problem (see Table 4). The majority of participants (63.3%) expressed moderate to high confidence in addressing the workplace. Conclusion. The quasi-experiment study design was rigorous but could not control for confounding effects. Rather than a random sample, the study used a convenience sample from one or two different schools in the same geographical region with similar clinical rotations and different campuses, which limits external validity. Nonetheless, This study allowed senior nursing students to examine behaviors previously not considered uncivil, such as ignoring someone by using a cell phone or rolling one’s eyes, and other subtle behaviors. Participants could identify these behaviors based on their responses during the case study scenarios. Discussion. The implication for nursing education is to improve recruitment and retention in nursing schools and clinical settings. Nursing schools and healthcare organizations must establish policies for safely reporting workplace incivility. All employees should receive training on incivility, and workplace civility should be incorporated into all nursing curricula, just like the nursing process, as required by the ANA 2015 report. Clark et al. (2021) suggested incivility in nursing is an emerging concern for patient safety. The Implication for Nursing Research: This study contributes to the body of knowledge and supports further research to create a more respectful and civil work environment in nursing. This study emphasizes evidence-based interventions to educate nursing students on the importance of civility in the nursing profession.

Disciplines

Nursing

Keywords

evidence intervention; incivility in nursing education; incivility/nursing; nursing incivility

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