Exploring Nursing Faculty Emotional Exhaustion and Its Relationship to Student Incivility

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine if nursing faculty experience emotional exhaustion (EE). Further, this study aimed to explore the relationship between nursing student incivility and faculty EE and to determine if there were differences in levels of faculty EE based on educational level, academic rank, and years of teaching experience. Background: Nursing education is stressful for both students and faculty. When faced with stress and demands, students can become uncivil. This student incivility can add additional strain to faculty’s already strenuous work and personal lives and can contribute to them becoming emotionally exhausted. Due to EE, nursing faculty may choose to leave academia resulting in fewer faculty to educate future nurses. Methods: This study utilized a descriptive correlational design. Participants completed an online survey, consisting of two instruments: Incivility in Nursing Education-Revised (INE-R) and the EE subscale of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educators Survey (BMIES). Results: The participants were 102 nursing faculty from 13 Midwestern United States colleges and universities in South Dakota (SD) and North Dakota (ND). The findings of the study indicate nursing faculty experience EE as 62.5% of the participants reported moderate to high levels of EE. The findings also report a significant positive correlation between student incivility and faculty EE rs (94) = 0.32, n = 96, p = 0.00. The study found a positive relationship with no statistically significant difference between educational level, H (4) = 2.13, p = 0.71; academic rank, H (5) = 3.90, p = 0.57; and years of teaching experience, H (7) = 10.83, p = 0.15. Multiple linear regression found student incivility to be a significant predictor of faculty EE and determined educational level, academic rank, and years of teaching experience were not significant predictors of EE. No linear trend was noted with predictor variables and faculty EE. Qualitative data revealed faculty perceptions of student incivility.Conclusions: This study suggests nursing faculty experience EE and indicates a relationship between student incivility and faculty EE with student incivility being a significant predictor of faculty EE. The study also provides new knowledge regarding the relationship of the two that may assist faculty and administration to be more aware of faculty EE and student incivility and assist in the development of interventions to address and prevent faculty EE and student incivility in nursing education