Within the workplace, incivility has lasting and detrimental effects on employees, teams, facilities, and even patient care. All nurses, in all settings have the right to maintain healthy work atmospheres and to foster an environment of respect and dignity (Clark, 2015). Based on the results of the Clark Healthy Workplace Inventory Assessment, my workplace is moderately healthy. This was a surprise to me because I assumed that it would be scored in the very healthy range. All of the areas I either selected completely or somewhat true except for three, in which I chose neutral. My workplace overall, I believe, is quite civil. I feel that the organization typically has good intentions and wishes the best for its employees. We are located in a small community, and I believe it shows in the hospital’s mission and values.
There have been instances of incivility in the workplace. However, these areas have all been temporary states that have diminished with time. This occurs when the organization is taking a financial hit and, I feel, that it is unfairly disbursed upon staff to take the hit instead of the organization. An example of this was last year when a new wing was built on the hospital at the same time that the facility purchased multiple other healthcare facilities in different towns to be a part of the hospital. After these transactions took place, we had an all-time low census. Because of this, the new unit of the hospital was shut down as well as the step-down unit. This meant that for over two weeks, all employees of these units were “on-call” and basically without a job. I happened to be employed in the step-down unit. Nurses expect that leadership practices be reflective of respect and engagement of clinical practices and operational engagement with staff and local communities (Clark & Beatty, 2016). To me, this means open and honest communication should be facilitated among hospital governance leaders and members of management and employees. This communication should address all issues and offer solutions on how the organization is here to help during these difficult situations. A similar circumstance happened again this year with COVID-19. Since the pandemic restrictions started, our outpatient surgery center and other clinics have been closed. Because of this, census is very low. The organization has compensated for this by requiring management to take fifty percent of their next four weeks off without pay. They also are not paying those who work in the surgery center and other clinics. Our healthcare facility is financially very well off and could easily recover from the financial hit they are currently addressing, while those who are at home with no job may not. According to Zhou, Yan, Che, & Meier, 2015, there are various adverse outcomes associated with incivility in the workplace. These outcomes can result from both chronic incivility and short-term incivility.
References (Jos Sti)
Clark, C. (2015). Fostering Healthy Work Environments: Powered by Civility, Collegiality, and Teamwork. Retrieved from https://sigma.nursingrepository.org/handle/10755/603359
Clark, K., & Beatty, S. (2016). Making Hospital Governance Healthier for Nurses, 11(2). Retrieved from https://journal.achsm.org.au/index.php/achsm/article/view/183
Zhou, Z. E., Yan, Y., Che, X. X., & Meier, L. L. (2015). Effect of workplace incivility on end-of-work negative affect: Examining individual and organizational moderators in a daily diary study. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 20(1), 117–130. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038167