Jan 31, 2020, 12:57 PM

<1.40-min. read> Incivility and disrespect in healthcare weaken teamwork and collaboration and diminish communication. The two problems can also impact an individual’s ability and willingness to speak up and advocate for patient care. For decades, nurse educators have been trying to solve these issues and teach nursing students how to address incivility in academic and practice settings. The problem was they lacked evidence-based educational strategies to do so successfully.

Cynthia M. Clark, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN, and Michelle Dunham, PhD, decided to investigate this topic. Dr. Clark is Strategic Nursing Advisor for ATI Nursing Education, and Dr. Dunham is Senior Research Scientist for Assessment Sciences at Ascend Learning. Their findings — recently published ahead of print in the journal Nurse Educator — prove that resources can help educators meet this critical objective.

In their article, the authors described students’ response to a virtual-learning experience — specifically, a product solution developed by ATI Nursing Education called Civility Mentor — designed to prepare students to prevent and address incivility in academic and healthcare environments. The product also allows educators to view preliminary assessment data from student users. The authors reported that more than 90% of 22,000 student respondents indicated they:
• Were satisfied with the learning experience
• Were made aware of the consequences of incivility and its effects on patient safety
• Planned to apply techniques for addressing incivility into their nursing practice.

Civility Mentor — delivered via an online platform — uses a series of on-screen simulations to illustrate the nurse's professional role and the critical importance of collaborating as members of an interprofessional healthcare team. A variety of peer-to-peer, student-to-preceptor, nurse-to-charge nurse, and other simulations are designed to build nursing students' skills and confidence as they learn, practice, and apply techniques in conflict negotiation, effective communication, stress management, reflective practice, and professional, ethical conduct.

In conclusion, the authors write: “Civility Mentor is effective in educating students about the consequences of incivility, developing skills to foster civility, communicating more assertively, and addressing incivility in academic and healthcare environments.”

You can access the article in the journal Nurse Educator.