Cultivating Healthful Work Environments In The Nursing Community

Cultivating Healthful Work Environments Incivility is not a new topic in the nursing community. The saying that, “nurses eat their young” has been around for decades. The manifestation of this phrase includes bullying, lateral and horizontal abuse, incivility, harassment, and disruptive behaviors (Sauer, 2012). Dealing with these behaviors can make or break a new nurse. This paper will explore the issue of incivility, importance to nursing, storytelling, creating a healthful environment, and practice application.
Issue of Incivility
McNamara (2012) mentioned incivility by Webster’s dictionary definition is a negative trait manifested by a show of disrespectfulness, discourteousness, and ungraciousness. Blevins (2015) wrote an article titled

The nursing profession is one of the most demanding and taxing job. It is a business of caring, so if someone is in it for the money, they have chosen the wrong profession. Adding a negative environment into the mix, makes it harmful for an individual. The unfavorable working atmosphere can damage a nurse’s psychologically and financially (Oyeleye, Patricia, O'Connor, & Dunn, 2013). When a nurse is constantly being put down and ridicule by their colleagues directly or indirectly, she will experience anxiety which can lead to poor job performance and absenteeism. Whenever a nurse calls out, other nurses are asked to fill in. If this absenteeism continues, the nurses who are picking up the extra may begin to experience burnout. Burnout will have negative effects in patient care and relationships with the patient and family (Oyeleye, Patricia, O'Connor, & Dunn, 2013). In addition, the negativity the nurse endures could transform her to be a pessimistic and sardonic person. The workplace would be impacted, and this could add on to the unpleasant culture of the unit. The ramification of a negative workplace is high turnover in nursing staff on the unit. Turnover can cause financial strain to the unit’s budget and eventually the hospital (Laschinger, Wong, Cummings, & Grau, 2014). According to Chapovalov & Van Hulle (2015) in their article Workplace Bullying in Nursing part1: Prevention Awareness, the consequences of unhealthy workplace

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