Abstract
The workplace environment in healthcare is complex and negatively influenced by an increasing pattern of incivility. Recent reports of the increasing prevalence of incivility and related disruptive behaviors within nursing academic and clinical settings are alarming. Incivility threatens the sense of belonging needed to support and nurture the development of nursing students in the profession, and significantly impacts the work performance of front-line healthcare workers, contributing to medical errors and poor patient outcomes (Patel et al., 2022). Nurses and nursing students must be well equipped to effectively address incivility in the workplace and promote the collaboration necessary to optimize patient safety (Clark, 2019).
Multiple evidence-based strategies are available to improve communication and teamwork skills to address incivility and improve safety and quality of care. These include (a) cognitive rehearsal (Griffin & Clarke, 2014; Patel et al., 2022), which supports being well-prepared, speaking confidently, and using respectful expressions to address incivility and empower nurses to break the silence of incivility and oppression; and (b) Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety (Team-STEPPS), a proven evidence-based teamwork system to improve communication, teamwork skills, and the patient safety culture among healthcare providers, as well as patient outcomes (Mohsen et al., 2021).
The purpose of this study was to assess the work environment and identify strengths, needs and areas of concern within a single organization using the Clark Healthy Workplace Inventory. The results revealed an organization’s culture that fostered consistent implementation of good team communication horizontally and vertically across the healthcare organization is warranted to help tackle incivility in the academic and clinical settings.
Relevant to nursing education and practice, nurses and nursing students must be well equipped to effectively address incivility in the workplace and promote the collaboration necessary to optimize patient safety (Clark, 2019). Despite the challenges posed by increased incivility in the healthcare workplace, assessment and multidisciplinary strategies can help reduce incivility and bullying. It is imperative that leadership across healthcare organizations and systems collaborate to eradicate horizontal and vertical violence in the healthcare workplace.
Notes
References: Clark, C. M. (2019). Combining cognitive rehearsal, simulation, and evidence-based scripting to address incivility. Nurse Educator, 44(2), 64-68.
Griffin, M., & Clark, C. M. (2014). Revisiting cognitive rehearsal as an intervention against incivility and lateral violence in nursing: 10 years later. Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 45(12), 535–542.
Mohsen, M. M., Gab Allah, A. R., Amer, N. A., Rashed, A. B., & Shokr, E. A. (2021). Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety at primary healthcare units: Effect on patients’ outcomes. Nursing Forum, 56(4), 849–859. https://doi.org/10.1111/nuf.12627
Patel, S. E., Chrisman, M., Russell, C. L., Lasiter, S., Bennett, K., & Pahls, M. (2022). Cross-sectional study of the relationship between experiences of incivility from staff nurses and undergraduate nursing students’ sense of belonging to the nursing profession. Nurse Education in Practice, 62, N.PAG. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2022.103320
Sigma Membership
Alpha Lambda
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
N/A
Research Approach
N/A
Keywords:
Academic-Clinical Partnership, Acute Care, Interprofessional Initiatives
Recommended Citation
Ngonmeudje, Guillaume, "Combining Organizational Assessment and Evidence-Based Strategies to Address Incivility in Nursing" (2025). Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE). 62.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/chwe/2025/presentations_2025/62
Conference Name
Creating Healthy Work Environments
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Conference Year
2025
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Combining Organizational Assessment and Evidence-Based Strategies to Address Incivility in Nursing
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
The workplace environment in healthcare is complex and negatively influenced by an increasing pattern of incivility. Recent reports of the increasing prevalence of incivility and related disruptive behaviors within nursing academic and clinical settings are alarming. Incivility threatens the sense of belonging needed to support and nurture the development of nursing students in the profession, and significantly impacts the work performance of front-line healthcare workers, contributing to medical errors and poor patient outcomes (Patel et al., 2022). Nurses and nursing students must be well equipped to effectively address incivility in the workplace and promote the collaboration necessary to optimize patient safety (Clark, 2019).
Multiple evidence-based strategies are available to improve communication and teamwork skills to address incivility and improve safety and quality of care. These include (a) cognitive rehearsal (Griffin & Clarke, 2014; Patel et al., 2022), which supports being well-prepared, speaking confidently, and using respectful expressions to address incivility and empower nurses to break the silence of incivility and oppression; and (b) Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety (Team-STEPPS), a proven evidence-based teamwork system to improve communication, teamwork skills, and the patient safety culture among healthcare providers, as well as patient outcomes (Mohsen et al., 2021).
The purpose of this study was to assess the work environment and identify strengths, needs and areas of concern within a single organization using the Clark Healthy Workplace Inventory. The results revealed an organization’s culture that fostered consistent implementation of good team communication horizontally and vertically across the healthcare organization is warranted to help tackle incivility in the academic and clinical settings.
Relevant to nursing education and practice, nurses and nursing students must be well equipped to effectively address incivility in the workplace and promote the collaboration necessary to optimize patient safety (Clark, 2019). Despite the challenges posed by increased incivility in the healthcare workplace, assessment and multidisciplinary strategies can help reduce incivility and bullying. It is imperative that leadership across healthcare organizations and systems collaborate to eradicate horizontal and vertical violence in the healthcare workplace.
Description
Incivility threatens the work performance of nurses and other frontline healthcare workers. Despite the challenges posed by increased incivility in the healthcare workplace environment, there are existing assessment tools and strategies to reduce incivility and improve communication, teamwork, and patient safety.