Incivility, negative behaviors with low intensity and unclear intention that damage the target person, occurs frequently in healthcare environments (Atashzadeh et al., 2021, p.2). It is pervasive within the nursing culture, and researchers have consistently documented it for over three decades across the nursing continuum in education and practice (Chachula et al., 2022; Layne et al., 2019). Reducing incivility in the workplace should begin in academia when nursing students prepare for their future roles (Al Sabei, 2021). Incivility is associated with poor patient outcomes, including adverse safety events and mortality (Layne et al., 2019). Unsafe nursing practices as a result of incivility are life-threatening for patients. Incivility can generate an atmosphere where staff will not raise concerns or question managers for fear of humiliation, resulting in poor communication and patient outcomes (Peate, 2020).

Limited studies published in the current literature explore how curriculum within undergraduate nursing programs prepares students to identify and address incivility in their nursing practice. Research has primarily focused on faculty-to-faculty incivility among established nurses (McGee, 2023; Cook & Bambusch, 2021). However, nursing research needs to be improved in how the undergraduate nursing curriculum prepares nursing students and newly graduated nurses to identify and address incivility. In their bibliometric analysis of workplace incivility in nursing, Taskaya and Aksoy (2020) found that some research focused on newly graduated nurses and how incivility can affect their career options. Unfortunately, research has also found that education on incivility is often presented reactively after a newly graduated nurse has encountered incivility in the nursing field instead of proactively within the undergraduate setting (Patel et al., 2022).