Incivility in Nursing Education: The Role of Nursing Education in the Perpetuation of Incivility in the Nursing Profession

According to Jones, Echevarria, Sun, and Ryan (2016), 80% to 90% of nurses experience bullying at some point during their career. In 2011, the American Nursing Association (ANA) reported incivility contributed to 40% of medication errors being unreported. A study by Clarke, Kane, Rajacich, and Lafreniere (2012) reported that 88.72% of the 674 participating nursing students had experienced bullying by faculty. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact nursing education has in the perpetuation of incivility in the field of nursing. Using a modified survey, data was collected from two disparate cohorts of nursing students at two dissimilar times during their educational process. This data was analyzed to describe and compare the incivilities experienced by second semester and final semester nursing students, to determine if differences exist according to the length of time spent in a nursing educational program. Viewing these differences through the lens of Bandura’s social cognitive theory may be indicative of the role the nursing education process plays in the perpetuation of incivility across the professional continuum. Results of this study indicate that incivilities, sometimes aggressive and violent, were being experienced and perpetrated by both faculty and students in this program of study. Future research is urgently recommended to pinpoint the locus of incivility and collaborative efforts involving the educational, clinical, and administrative arenas, in conjunction with the legal authorities, is suggested