Available online 1 November 2022

As the cultural dynamics within our world are rapidly changing, the need to maintain a sense of civility is essential. Academic incivility is occurring at an alarming rate in higher education and is undermining nursing education and practice. The purpose of this research project was to identify if nursing students perceived awareness of uncivil behaviors was altered after attending an educational session on incivility. A quantitative, quasi-experimental, pre post study was conducted with nursing students in the third semester of an Associate Degree Nursing program. Although the paired t-test did not find statistical significance, awareness of the problem became evident. Nineteen student nurses from a small community college in the Midwest participated in this study. Continued research is warranted to identify approaches to increase awareness of incivility and in minimizing these behaviors for the future of our nursing profession.

Academic incivility is occurring at an alarming rate in higher education and undermines nursing academia and practice. The American Nurses Association (2017) describes incivility as “behaviors or remarks that have a disrespectful tone or with a negative intent.” Defining incivility is crucial, as behaviors considered uncivil by one person may seem mild to another and be overlooked as uncivil (Clark, 2019). According to Clark (2008), the classroom should be an area for intellectual growth,

The aim of this study was to provide insight into nursing students’ perceived awareness of uncivil behaviors within the academic setting and determine if an educational session on incivility had an impact on the perception of these behaviors. The null hypothesis was that nursing students would not show a difference in the perceived awareness of uncivil behaviors between the beginning and end of the third semester.

As the academic landscape shifts to a more uncivil one, the importance of modeling

The research question for this study was: What is the difference in the perceived awareness of uncivil behaviors among nursing students before and after receiving an educational session on incivility at the beginning and end of the third semester in a two-year ADN Program?

A quantitative, quasi-experimental pre-post study was implemented at the beginning and end of the third semester in a two-year ADN Program. The third semester is the beginning of the second year and was chosen as college

Nineteen students participated in both the pre and post-survey. The top three perceived levels of student-to-student uncivil behavior from both the pre-survey and the post-survey were the same (1) cheating on exams/quizzes (72.7%), (2) condescending remarks (72.7%), and (3) rude email (72.7%) (Table 3). Participants were also asked to rate the level of student-to-faculty incivility. The pre-survey results were: (1) exerting superiority (72.7%), (2) rude emails (72.7%), and (3) threats of

The purpose of this study was to provide insight into nursing students’ perceived awareness of uncivil behaviors within the academic setting and determine if an educational session on incivility had an impact on the perception of these behaviors. The null hypothesis was that nursing students would not show a difference in the perceived awareness of uncivil behaviors between the beginning and end of the third semester. The null hypothesis was accepted, as the study was found not to show

Numerous studies have investigated the issue surrounding academic incivility and the perceived awareness as it relates to nursing students. However, minimal research has identified what the potential outcome could be after an educational session on incivility is carried out in the academic setting. Therefore, more research is needed. The purpose of this study was to determine if an educational session on incivility would impact the perceived awareness of uncivil behaviors in the classroom

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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© 2022 Organization for Associate Degree Nursing. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.