Nursesʼ Perceptions of Incivility in the Operating Room

Abstract

The operating room (OR) can be a high-stress area for healthcare workers. A great deal of expertise, teamwork, and precision is needed for the area to run smoothly and achieve desired patient outcomes. Incivility in healthcare has been recognized in the literature as a cause of healthcare worker distraction with increased risk of medical errors, reduce collegiality, and employee turnover. A survey was sent to nurses who work in operating rooms in a southern state. Forty-three nurses responded to the survey. It was found that most had experienced incivility in the workplace (85%). Fiftyeight percent stated that they had dreaded going to work due to workplace incivility. Twenty-eight percent said that they had experienced stress-related illnesses due to workplace incivility. Physicians and fellow nurses were found to be the most common perpetrators of uncivil behaviors in the OR, compared with supervisors, patients, or other hospital employees. The study's findings underscored the need for hospitals and healthcare systems to focus on reducing incivility the operating room.

Incivility in the Health Care Environment: Special Focus on the Operating Room

“…The results also showed that nurse manager ability, leadership, support of nurses, and staffing and resource adequacy are potential avenues to address coworker incivility. The result of this study coincides with the study by Garth et al (2019) in that nursing leadership plays a critical role in shaping the nurse work environment that ultimately drives better nurse outcomes with the elimination of workplace incivility. A respectful, civil work environment should be a priority for every hospital administrator in order to allow nurses to focus on providing exceptional patient care (Smith et al, 2018).…”

“…Fifty-six percent ( n = 22) have dreaded going to work due to uncivil behavior in the operating room. Similar to the findings of Hamlin et al (2016), Garth et al (2019) found that uncivil behaviors were reported most commonly as being committed by operating room physicians and nurse colleagues. The most common reported uncivil behavior by fellow operating room nurses was gossiping about other nurses, with 83.79% ( n = 31).…”

“…The authors agreed with Katz et al (2019) in that patient safety can be severely compromised if uncivil behavior is permitted to occur in operating rooms. Garth et al (2019) concluded that health care organizations and administrators must adhere to a zero tolerance for workplace incivility and empower employees through supportive policies. Uncivil behavior was directed more often at nurses than other health care professionals.…”

“…The following elements influenced the robustness of the research. All seven studies clearly identified the research problem and purpose of the study (Evans, 2017; Garth et al, 2019; Hamblin et al, 2015; Hamlin et al, 2016; Katz et al, 2019; Layne et al, 2019; Smith et al, 2018). Only Smith et al (2018) established a research question.…”

The Limbo Atmosphere in operating room settings Caused by Disruptive Behaviors: A Qualitative Study

“…In their study, Rosenstein and O'Daniel 2005 had noticed that 86% of nurses had encountered these behaviors, and physicians had additionally expressed that in half of their fellow workers had witnessed such behaviors. [12] Besides, Garth et al 2019 had reported that the prevalence rate of unpleasant and uncivil behaviors with nurses by physicians was approximately 66% [13].…”