Nursing Incivility: Effects on Patient Outcomes and Healthcare

This essay examines the pervasive issue of incivility in nursing and its detrimental effects on healthcare settings, patient outcomes, and the well-being of nurses. It defines incivility as disruptive and disrespectful behavior, highlighting its causes such as workplace stress and fatigue. The essay discusses the various negative impacts of incivility, including impaired clinical judgment, negative emotions, and psychological distress among nurses, which can ultimately affect patient care. It also addresses the financial costs associated with incivility, such as decreased productivity and burnout. Furthermore, the essay emphasizes the importance of effective communication in healthcare and how incivility disrupts this, leading to errors in treatment and medication. Finally, it highlights interventions and strategies, such as those promoted by the American Nurses Association and The Joint Commission, to address and reduce incivility in nursing, advocating for a culture of safety and civility in healthcare environments. Desklib provides access to this and other solved assignments for students.

Running head: NURSING ASSINMENT 1
Nursing Assignment
Author
Institution

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Nursing Assignment
Incivility is used to define, disruptive, rude, undesirable and intimidating behaviors
focused on another person. Moreover, it is disruptive behaviors that usually result in
psychological or physiological distress for the involved and if not addresses can advance into
frightening situations (Felblinger, 2008). Incivility behaviors are characterized by a lack of
regard for others. The discourteous actions include spreading rumors or gossiping or delays such
as declining to assist others when requested to do so. Incivility occurs since nurses work in fast-
paced surroundings that may involve death and life circumstances, frequent workplace threats
and long working hours (Lim & Cortina, 2005). Usually, inclusivity is caused by stress and
fatigue.
Incivility seems to be an increasing problem to the organization. A survey conducted in
the US healthcare estimated that 80% of the nurses experienced incivility at work. Also, 40% of
the faculty in healthcare has been the target of incivility. Incivility is frequently applicable in
healthcare that is greatly modified by the inherent high-stress environment (McNamara, 2012).
The unruly behaviors among the health workers existed for decades but only in the recent it has
been identified as unacceptable and associated with adverse outcomes and effects. It is not only
limited to the physicians but also occurs among nursing, pharmacy, radiology and laboratory
staff. Victims of incivility may experience stress, sleeplessness, exhaustion, anger, depression,
and embarrassment.
Incivility has major impacts on the nursing ability to use a high level of clinical
judgment. Incivility is more likely to cause negative effects on the target. This is usually created

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by the demand and pressure of the workplace that nurses are involved in. Incivility creates
negative emotions on the nurses thus affecting their working ability (Berry, Gillespie, Gates, &
Schafer, 2012). A study conducted established that inexperienced workplace incivility was
directly connected to three types of negative feelings including sadness, fear, and anger of
targets. The environment of healthcare often is characterized by a high stress on the nurses. This,
therefore, affects the nurses' ability to deliver provided they are not functioning as normal.
Nurses usually experience incivility from the management, their leaders and their fellow nurses.
The patients care need are often at risk with many patients being left stranded and embarrassed
by the situation imposed on them by the nurses. Normally, the patient expects a friendly
interaction and environment with the patients. However, when nurses themselves experiences
incivility in their workplace, significantly, they tend to project their emotions to the patients. The
wellbeing and psychological functioning of the patients are also greatly affected.
The negative emotional factors accumulation across time in nurses results in impaired
psychological well-being due to increased anxiety and depression (Estes & Wang, 2008). This
psychological symptom eventually influences the physical health of the nurses. The negative
relationship in the healthcare workplace significantly affects nurses and psychological wellbeing
is usually measured in various ways. The nurse's mental health may be affected, emotional
exhaustion. This states obviously is a threat to the nurses and more critical to the nurses care
delivery to the patients.
Incivility inflicts chaos on nurse’s relationship and workplace drive as well as the patient
safety. Incivility has a devastating consequence on effects on health care setting. Being a fatality
of incivility is also costly to the organization. Nurses lay less energy and produce lesser quality
and can even burn out. The yearly cost of job stress alone owed to incivility at the corporations

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in the US is estimated to be around 300 billion dollars. The effects caused by the incivility are
major in healthcare. The most affected by the incivility is the patient’s outcome. Patients are
usually in critical conditions and thus they require maximum attention from the caregivers
especially the nurses. The major goal of healthcare is to promote health and healthcare in patients
however, when there are cases of incivility, the goals are threatened (Luparell, 2011). This
usually happens when there is no good relationship between the healthcare practitioners for
example between the pharmacists and the nurses. The policies and procedure of the health care
functioning also are put into a stalemate by the incivility. The health care system functioning is
significantly distracted. The presence of undesirable behaviors among the health professionals in
health care exists in the occurrence of inclusivity. The physicians are usually regarded as the
head of the healthcare and often acts the leader. They have significant responsibilities towards
the healthcare of the patients. Meanwhile, they cannot work alone and requires other health
professionals such as nurses to supplement each other and healthcare delivery. In the incidences
when there is incivility the physicians treat nurses in an undesirable and rude manner results to
the violation of the policies and the procedures set to ensure there are equality and impartiality in
the health care systems.
Incivility causes to harm and injuries from the health care professionals to patients and
among the health care professional. Centered on the unethical standards caused by incivility
creates an environment where harm and injuries are can occur. This may occur in form of
physical and emotional injuries. These injuries can result in death. The health professionals may
find themselves in activities that often cause harm to one another. For example, a stressed nurse
may shoot his or her working partner.

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Communication is vital in healthcare. It assists in the sharing of ideas and information in
health care. Healthcare professionals interact with the patients at various capacities to improve
their health. Effective communication, therefore, is vital in the quality of service delivery in the
healthcare system. A healthcare setting is supposed to facilitate effective communication
between healthcare and health care delivery (Hutchinson, Vickers, Jackson & Wilkes, 2006).
This often enhanced through friendly interactions in assessing the patient’s conditions. Also, the
effective communication between the healthcare providers serves a major boost in the health
outcome of the patient due to the elimination of errors that exist due to a lack of communication
among healthcare providers. However, the incivility acts a major blow to effective
communication in healthcare. Incivility was and still affects adversely communication between
the healthcare professionals thus affecting the patient’s outcome. Patients often suffer due to
inefficient communication inflicted by incivility. Due to the environment created by incivility in
healthcare often healthcare finds it hard to create an effective communication between them.
Thus, the lack of effective communication leads to errors in administering treatment and
medication (Pearson & Porath, 2005). Moreover, in many incidences patients usually miss the
treatment. This is caused by lack of proper communication by the health professionals regarding
the patients’ health conditions, as well as lack of communication well-structured communication
between the healthcare providers and the patients.
The unconventional incivility has serious and lasting repercussions. Thus, there is a need
to address and decrease this condition. Addressing incivility by speaking up when it occurs is the
most effective way to stop it (Luparell, 2005). The American Nurses Association (ANA) clearly
articulates various intervention of reducing the incivility in nursing. It has created resources
including publication, webinars and fact sheets, tips cards that offer policies for both

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organizations and individual nurse to use. It has also modeled questions on workplace violence
as part of its health risk appraisal an online survey to all nurses. Meanwhile, nurse experts around
the nation are working to promote ways of ensuring a safer and better environment for all. In
2009, in realizing behavior influences morale, staff turnover, and patients care. The joint
commission set standards in place that require the leaders of healthcare to maintain a culture of
safety Spence (Laschinger, Leiter, Day & Gilin, 2009). According to the joint commission,
organizations that fail to address unprofessional behavior are indirectly promoting incivility.
It is essential to point out that incivility has devastating consequences that have
significantly affected the healthcare delivery in a healthcare institution. Incivility in nursing and
their workplace has substantial implications for patients, healthcare organizations and nurses.
Thus, although it has gained attention recently, it is of much significance for the government
agencies and the concerned parties in healthcare to put more strategies of promoting civility in
healthcare. It is imperative for the student to be enabled to address issues of incivility in their
various nursing academia courses to prepare them for future occupation in a healthcare setting.

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References
Berry, P. A., Gillespie, G. L., Gates, D., & Schafer, J. (2012). Novice nurse productivity
following workplace bullying. Journal of Nursing Scholarship. Retrieved from:
https://sigmapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1547-
5069.2011.01436.x
Estes, B., & Wang, J. (2008). Integrative literature review: Workplace incivility: Impacts
on individual and organizational performance. Human Resource Development.
Retrieved from:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1534484308315565
Felblinger, D. M. (2008). Incivility and bullying in the workplace and nurses’ shame
responses. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing. Retrieved
from: http://www.hadassah.org.il/media/1880347/incivility.pdf
Hutchinson, M., Vickers, M., Jackson, D., & Wilkes, L. (2006). Workplace bullying in
nursing: towards a more critical organisational perspective. Nursing inquiry.
Retrieved from:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/01612840903308531?
scroll=top&needAccess=true&journalCode=imhn20
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responses. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing. Retrieved
from: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1552-6909.2008.00227.x

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McNamara, S. A. (2012). Incivility in nursing: Unsafe nurse, unsafe patients. AORN
journal. Retrieved from: https://www.archives-pmr.org/article/S0001-
2092(12)00032-4/abstract
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Spence Laschinger, H. K., Leiter, M., Day, A., & Gilin, D. (2009). Workplace
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