Constance Ann Thomas
Indiana State University, USA
Biography
The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand how students in a clinical education setting experienced encounters with incivility and to gain insights on what events or behaviors students identified as uncivil as well as their emotional and behavioral responses to those events. Responses to incivility were viewed through the theoretical prisms of cognitive appraisal and motivational attribution. The primary research question was: How do nursing students in a clinical education setting describe their experience with incivility? The basic qualitative method of open ended conversational interviews was aligned with the primary and secondary research questions and reflected the empirical literature reviewed. The data was analyzed for recurring patterns and new themes using a constant comparative method for each interview. The findings supported those from empirical findings from previous research in which incivility was found to be prevalent in nursing milieus and it was present during the clinical education of nursing students in this study. The 12 participants in this study felt unprepared to effectively respond when encountering incivility and experienced emotional and behavioral harm from the encounters. The research demonstrated a gap in preparing students and making them aware that incivility may occur in nursing. There is a need to provide information early in the nursing curriculum about incivility and methods for responding to it. Nurse educators have a responsibility to provide knowledge about incivility and effective communication methods. This is needed when socializing those becoming novice nurses.
Abstract
Abstract : Nursing students identify clinical incivility as harm, threat or challenge