Academia has a history of being truly effective, requiring educators and students to feel free to express themselves without intimidation (Anderson et al., 2021). However, the delivery of nursing education using online platforms has been expanded over the previous two decades (Pool et al., 2023; Wilson et al., 2023), compromising such freedom and increasing intimidation of both students and educators (Anderson et al., 2021; Butler & Strouse, 2022; Clark, Kane, et al., 2012; Penconek, 2020; Pool et al., 2023; Wilson et al., 2023).

Taking into account the huge changes in nursing education, the pioneer American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) approved new standards for nursing education based on competency-based education in 2021 (Giddens et al., 2022). There are new model includes competencies organized within ten domains at the entry-level and advanced levels of nursing education. The AACN standards enacted these standards to ensure the practice or performance level expected by new graduates in order to provide excellent care. Of these domains is domain nine related to professionalism, through which we can guarantee the civility of the nursing education process for both students and educators (Demorest et al., 2024).

Incivility is defined as the negative behavior of insulting others (Eka & Chambers, 2019). Incivility in nursing education is about exhibiting rude behaviors or speech, impoliteness, and inappropriate behaviors (Mrayyan et al., 2024). When addressing incivility in education, it is usually about student-to-educator incivility; that is, educator-to-student incivility is unacceptable academic behavior (Anderson et al., 2021; Butler & Strouse, 2022). Nursing educators' incivility, exhibited toward their students or colleagues, is “overwhelming and demoralizing” (Peters, 2015, p.159). Educator-to-student incivility is dangerous; nursing educators who exhibit uncivil behaviors may leave students feeling powerless (Butler & Strouse, 2022; Lampley et al., 2016; Smith et al., 2014). Sadly, students are “role modeling” the uncivil behaviors of their educators (Anderson et al., 2021; Clark, Juan, et al., 2012; Hudgins et al., 2022). Most behaviors are reciprocal; thus, nursing educators' incivility is more dangerous. Their incivility in online nursing education is related to inadequate preparation for online communication (Clark, Kane, et al., 2012; Lampley et al., 2016; Moghimian et al., 2023; Pool et al., 2023; Wilson et al., 2023); therefore, calling for immediate interventions for their organizations.

Educators' incivility disrupts the processes of teaching and learning (Clark, Werth, & Ahten, 2012; Moghimian et al., 2023; Penconek, 2020). This concern about incivility increased during the COVID-19 era (Pool et al., 2023; Smith et al., 2022; Wilson et al., 2023). The complete and sudden shift to online education contributed to stress among educators (Anderson et al., 2021; Reznik et al., 2021; Smith et al., 2022). If not properly addressed, the stress may manifest into uncivil behavior toward students in nursing academia (Anderson et al., 2021; Smith et al., 2022).