Civility is formal politeness when all social agents treat each other with respect, dignity, and ethical considerations. It plays a vital role in nursing by building trustful relationships among employees, employers, and clients. In contrast, incivility includes disrespect, self-centered behavior, irresponsibility, and dishonesty of the workers. Since nurses interact with various healthcare professionals, support patients, and educate their families, they should develop a civility culture through inclusivity and institutional regulations.
As concepts refer to the conceived notions in mind that form more general judgments, civility is the abstract idea covering authentic respect for all parties. The proposition formed due to this concept regarding nursing practices is that nurses are morally obliged to provide respectful and unrestricted care with equal dignity for all patients (Clark et al., 2022). Building blocks of this concept are the time and willingness of health professionals to establish open common ground with the patients and employees. Thus, civility is the concept or mental representation of respect, resulting in the courteous behavior of its agents.
Building civility in the workplace starts with identifying inappropriate behaviors. Incivility covers the social acts of aggression that threaten patient or employee safety. Although the most severe behaviors include bullying and violence, the other manifestations of incivility involve non-verbal gestures (Clark, 2019). For example, eye-rolling, walking away, smirking, and making rude comments. Additionally, nurses should never keep silent while others disrespect or insult each other. Therefore, all these unethical practices of excluding somebody or disrespecting him should be eliminated in the workplace to ensure civility.
Integrating civility into the workplace can be facilitated if all employees are engaged. Abedini and Parvizy (2019) suggest using discussions in a safe environment when employees are informed about the importance of civility and appropriate behaviors to promote a civility culture. For example, nurses can organize monthly discussion meetings where the leader provides corrective suggestions and establishes a civility mindset. They obtain knowledge about conflict resolution and respectful conversations to eliminate any problems with workplace dissatisfaction (Ota et al., 2022). In these directed discussions based on an instructional approach, nurses are educated about appropriate civil behavior and obtain their colleagues’ experience with a respectful attitude toward patients.
Identifying appropriate behavior for nurses who collaborate to build civility in the workplace is vital to improving morals and strengthening relationships. Nurses should follow it when employee, physician, or patient disagreements occur. The most prevalent sign of civility in the workplace is kindness and empathy, which strives to find common ground across all parties (Ota et al., 2022). Professionals are expected to diminish workplace marginalization, intolerance, or unfair treatment by supporting each other and educating other nurses. It makes them admit their mistakes, apologize, and hold more responsibility for their actions, including the rudest and uncivil ones. Codes of conduct should outline all these measures clearly to point out the expectations from the nursing professionals regarding civility.
The role of civility in the workplace aligns with the nurses’ responsibilities, meaning their priority is establishing a healthy environment for their patients. It is facilitated by professional communication between nurses and doctors, as when patients mention collaboration between all healthcare professionals, they become more satisfied (Hossny & Sabra, 2021). Therefore, nurses should never doubt physicians’ decisions regarding patients since this behavior violates hospital ethics and respect for colleagues. Since nurses experience high psychological and physical workloads, promoting teamwork between nurses and physicians enhances their commitment, loyalty, and job satisfaction.
Regarding communication between the patients and nurses, the most expected behavior is attentive listening and inclusive adaptation. Since civility in the workplace encourages respect for everyone, professionals should listen to the patient’s complaints, problems, or daily routine more carefully, grasping every detail to understand their mental state (Clark et al., 2022). For example, in my nursing practice, learners adopt open non-verbal gestures to ensure that their body language facilitates patients’ trust. If patients share their concerns about mood fluctuations, nurses should listen without providing their biases and assumptions. This behavior proves that professionals care for their interlocutors and civility culture in the workplace.
Meanwhile, adopting culture-sensitive care is critical to guarantee that the healthcare team respects patient diversity. Most importantly, medical centers should acknowledge that there are some political, religious, or cultural topics that nurses should avoid while communicating with their clients (Clark et al., 2022). During my nursing practice, learners are educated to welcome all patients regardless of their backgrounds and provide them with equal treatment and attention. Instead of suspending judgment and sharing rumors when meeting with refugees in the workplace, it teaches nurses to be more flexible and adaptable to these changes. They should research appropriate topics and manners or consult with other professionals to offer the most culture-sensitive care.
To conclude, civility in the workplace ensures that all social agents are treated with equal dignity, respect, and courtesy. Cultivating it in the nursing environment is critical, as healthcare professionals should demonstrate empathy and kindness while interacting with individuals with physical and psychological problems. For this purpose, they adopt appropriate behaviors such as attentive listening, culture-sensitive care, and professional communication with physicians. Nurses are also expected to avoid inappropriate non-verbal gestures, including eye-rolling and smirking.
References
Abedini, Z., & Parvizy, S. (2019). The effects of group discussion and self-learning on nursing students’ civility. Iranian Journal of Nursing and Midwifery Research, 24(4), 268–273. Web.
Clark, C. M. (2019). Fostering a culture of civility and respect in nursing. Journal of Nursing Regulation, 10(1), 44–52. Web.
Clark, S. M., Gorton, K. L., & Bentley, A. L. (2022). Civility: A concept analysis revisited. Nursing Outlook, 70(2), 259–270. Web.
Hossny, E. K., & Sabra, H. E. (2021). Effect of nurses’ perception to workplace civility climate on nurse–physician collaboration. Nursing Open, 8(2), 620–627. Web.
Ota, M., Lam, L., Gilbert, J., & Hills, D. (2022). Nurse leadership in promoting and supporting civility in health care settings: A scoping review. Journal of Nursing Management, 30(8), 4221–4233. Web.