Nursing Academic Administrators’ Lived Experiences With Incivility and Bullying From Faculty

Abstract

There are an increasing number of nursing academic administrators who identify themselves as victims of faculty incivility. This study examined experiences that academic administrators encountered with faculty incivility using a phenomenological research design. Three major themes emerged: faculty inappropriate behaviors, consequences of faculty behaviors on administrator targets, and administrators call for action. Findings revealed that incivility had devastating effects on administrators personally and professionally.

Incivility through the continuum of nursing: A concept analysis

“…In the work and academic environments, a lack of positive role models exist who demonstrate civil interactions . In a culture of incivility, staff and student nurses are unable to trust each other, feel disrespected, and are undervalued for their contributions to the nursing profession …”

“…Power gradients exist between individuals of different social or environmental status that create a “sense” of the authority of one individual over another. In nursing, power gradients exist based on seniority and position, or role, within the environment . While seniority is predominantly in the workplace related to the length of service, seniority is also present among nursing students based on their semester placement in the nursing program and nursing faculty based on rank, including tenure or nontenure track and clinical versus didactic role.…”

“…The described demeaning actions were mainly verbal. In the literature, demeaning actions included rude, sarcastic remarks, passive‐aggressive statements, belittling language, and gossiping …”

“…Exclusionary behaviors deny nurses and nursing students the ability to be involved in activities and events. Not only do individuals get left out of patient care experiences, but they are also not included in social gatherings and activities . Personal involvement in a social group is essential for human motivation.…”

“…By incorporating psychosocial distress instead of psychological distress, a new definition is created that provides a holistic perspective of the consequences of incivility on the individual. Psychosocial distress diminishes an individual's satisfaction in the workplace leading to a turnover . Psychosocial consequences in the literature include impaired self‐confidence, impaired self‐esteem, and an impaired social image or sense of belonging …”