Be CIVIL: Committing to zero tolerance for workplace incivility.

Abstract

Nurses in healthcare settings face numerous challenges, such as economic and reimbursement constraints, fast-paced technologic advances, the need to retrieve and report high quantities of data, and the increased demand to care for patients with complex medical needs, to name a few. These challenges, among others, create stressful and emotionally charged environments. The American Nurses Association (ANA) acknowledges that the environments in which nurses often work can “lead to situations where emotions boil over.”1 According to the ANA, incivility and bullying are “widespread in all settings.”2 And The Joint Commission reports that incivility in the form of bullying is at epidemic levels.3 Workplace incivility and bullying are topics frequently talked about in our offices, hallways, stairwells, and cafeterias, yet they may be hard to address in action. The effects of incivility, bullying, and violence in our work environments put everyone in the institution at risk for physical and emotional harm. In fact, incivility, bullying, and workplace violence are so prevalent that The Joint Commission issued a Sentinel Event Alert for all “behaviors that undermine a culture of safety.”4 In one study polling 800 managers and employees in 17 industries, it was found that the financial loss and negative effects of incivility were enormous, including decreased motivation, creativity, and team spirit and one-third less quality of work being accomplished.5 Eighty percent of those polled spent time worrying at work about the incidence of incivility, 60% spent time at work avoiding the offender, and 78% admitted to being less committed to the organization.5 The effects of incivility can stifle