Workplace Civility & Incivility Discussion

Respond to your colleagues by sharing ideas for how shortcomings discovered in their evaluations and/or their examples of incivility could have been managed more effectively.

2 Paragraphs

4-5 Sentences each

APA Format

2 References

Student Response #2

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Every work environment should offer a sense of belonginess, satisfaction and be enjoyable at the least. When the workplace is civil, it creates a healthy work environment where there are positive interactions between the staff and leadership, Griffin & Clark, (2014). It addresses the concerns, rights, wishes and respect for others within the organization. An uncivil work environment produces job dissatisfaction, poor quality care, poor patient outcomes, increase in medical errors and unsafe work environments, (Clark, 2018).

Prior to completing the Clark Healthy Workplace Inventory Assessment, it is well known that Correctional Health is unhealthy due to the nature of the work environment and to include the attitudes of our patient population. Because of the external factors, we are often faced with patients who display aggression and or disrespectful behaviors. We strive to maintain a level of professionalism, remain respectful and administer high quality health care while simultaneously working in a hostile environment. It takes lots of skill and talent to remain successful in this industry.

After completing the Healthy Workplace Inventory Assessment, the results of a score of 58 confirmed that the environment itself is unhealthy. It is the commitment and desire to be a change agent is what drives us to remain in the Correctional Health Industry.

According to Clark, Olender, Cardoni and Kenski, 2011, incivility in healthcare leads to negative patient outcomes, stress on staff, increased medical cost and poor and unsafe work conditions. Based on the results, my workplace lacks civility as we are well overworked and understaffed. The industry has had staffing issues since I joined the team in December, 2012. Additionally, due to the Coronavirus pandemic, and the rapid spread within the correctional institutions, we have lost several staff members, as a result of fear, illness and mortality. This does not make the industry appealing when it comes to recruitment and retention. There are groups of people who form clicks where they try to limit their circle to a selected few. There have been instances where upper management was talking down to the staff as if they were inferior to them. There were a few instances of work-place harassment and bullying. I was actually on the receiving end of what we would call workplace bullying. As a new graduate, I was excited to finally become gainfully employed as a Registered Nurse so I always took great pride in my appearance by ironing my uniforms and maintaining a neat and tidy work space. Every other weekend, I worked with a particular Charge-Nurse who would always make comments that were inappropriate and I noticed that she would always do this during shift change report where it was always lots of staff present. She would always make comments about what I wear or my hair or something. These remarks were always made towards me and only me. One Sunday morning during shift report, I applied a coat of tinted chap stick to my lips as report was being given and she made an outburst of “Wrong color Boo”! Everyone was looking at each other, not knowing what she was speaking of as well as why she made the outburst. This infuriated me, so I waited until the nurses’ station was cleared out and I asked her if I could speak to her in private. I took her into an office and I closed the door and I respectfully asked her if she had a problem with me because every time we work together, she has unnecessary outburst or comments towards me that aren’t work related nor appreciated. Her response to me was “No, I really like you and if I didn’t you would know it. I just envy you because you can eat whatever you want and not gain a pound.” We had a brief discussion and we both exited the room. I felt that I had to address her because I was 25 years her youth and I was tired of the remarks. From that day forward, I never had a problem with her ever again. Sadly, in an effort to make physical changes, she did not survive the cosmetic surgery and she died unexpectedly during the same year of our conversation. I did find peace after having the conversation with her, I did not view her as a very good leader and surprisingly, I did not experience any emotion when I heard the news of her untimely death.

In conclusion, I vowed to always treat everyone with dignity, respect and greet them with a smile, regardless of situation. Just because the workplace lacks civility, it doesn’t mean that you have to demonstrate uncivil behaviors. Oftentimes, we can make an impact on other by demonstrating positivity.

References

Clark, C. M., Olender, L., Cardoni, C., & Kenski, D. (2011). Fostering civility in nursing

education and practice: Nurse leader perspectives. Journal of Nursing Administration,

41(7/8), 324–330. doi:10.1097/NNA.0b013e31822509c4

Clark, C. M. (2018). Combining cognitive rehearsal, simulation, and evidence-based scripting to

address incivility. Nurse Educator. doi:10.1097/NNE.0000000000000563

Clark, C. M. (2015). Conversations to inspire and promote a more civil workplace. American

Nurse Today, 10(11), 18–23. Retrieved from https://www.americannursetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/ant11-CE- Civility-1023.pdf

Griffin, M., & Clark, C. M. (2014). Revisiting cognitive rehearsal as an intervention against

incivility and lateral violence in nursing: 10 years later. Journal of Continuing Education

in Nursing, 45(12), 535-542. doi:10.3928/00220124-20141122-02