Cynthia (Cindy) Clark

Exploring and Addressing Faculty-to-Faculty Incivility: A National Perspective and Literature Review

Cynthia M. Clark et al. — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:35:52 PDT

This is the first-known quantitative study to measure nursing faculty perceptions of faculty-to-faculty incivility. A total of 588 nursing faculty representing 40 states in the United States participated in the study. Faculty-to-faculty incivility was perceived as a moderate to serious problem. The behaviors reported to be most uncivil included setting a coworker up to fail, making rude remarks or put-downs, and making personal attacks or threatening comments. The most frequently occurring incivilities included resisting change, failing to perform one’s share of the workload, distracting others by using media devices during meetings, refusing to communicate on work-related issues, and making rude comments or put-downs. Stress and demanding workloads were two of the factors most likely to contribute to faculty-to-faculty incivility. Fear of retaliation, lack of administrative support, and lack of clear policies were cited as the top reasons for avoiding addressing the problem of incivility.

Plenary Session: Creating and Sustaining Civility in Nursing Education and Practice

Cynthia M. Clark — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 08:13:21 PDT

Clinical Assessment of Adolescents Involved in Satanism

C. M. Clark — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 09:50:47 PDT

Students, Jedi Knights and the Promise of Civility

Cynthia Clark — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 17:10:35 PST

Some readers may know I am a professor in the School of Nursing at Boise State University and a fellow in both the American Academy of Nursing and the National League for Nursing’s Academy of Nursing Education. I am also the founder of Civility Matters. For more than a decade, I have studied incivility in academic and practice environments to develop evidence-based strategies to create and sustain cultures of civility. Very often, I am asked how I got involved in this topic. Here’s my story.

What are Three Questions that Turn Competition into Collaboration?

Kathleen T. Heinrich et al. — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 17:10:34 PST

As in sports, so in nursing. Competition can enliven and strengthen. Or it can splinter colleague-friendships, steal joy, and leave those involved fallen by the wayside or limping to a finish line where there are no winners. Three competitive and hard-working nurse presenters and authors, Kathy, Cindy, and Susan (we), process issues and collaborate on groundbreaking projects that in many other groups might cause rivalry and conflict. After trekking into the unexplored, relational terrain of partnerships, we discovered that the secret for keeping our connection cosmic is three little words-yours, mine, and ours. If you yearn to share what you do in ways that invigorate rather than alienate your collaborators, this chapter shows how these words can galvanize your relationships with colleague-friends.

Cindy's 'Five RITES' for Fostering Student-Driven Civility

Cynthia Clark — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 17:10:33 PST

Some readers may know I am a professor in the School of Nursing at Boise State University. In June 2010, an article I co-authored with one of my nursing students, titled “What students can do to promote civility,” was published in Reflections on Nursing Leadership (RNL) as part of a five-part series on civility. As I mentioned in the first installment of this present series, nursing students are our promise and our hope. They are the Jedi Knights who will lead our noble profession to a bright future where personal and organizational civility reign. To frame this article, I have developed the Five RITES of Civility:

Raise awareness and expose effects of incivility.
Inspire action and catalyze change.
Take responsibility for creating civility.
Engage and commit to personal and organizational change.
Sustain results and generate more change.

Why Civility Matters

Cynthia M. Clark — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 16:05:17 PST

Incivility in American society is on the rise and rude and disruptive behavior is increasing in colleges and universities. Incivility can take on many forms—from subtle behaviors such as eye-rolling and arm-crossing to overt expressions of incivility like bullying, taunting, and intimidation. The emotional, physical, and economic costs of incivility can be high. In this podcast, Clark, founder of Civility Matters, provides an overview of incivility in nursing education, discusses how and why faculty and students contribute to incivility, and describes a range of evidence-based strategies to recognize, prevent, and address incivility in nursing education and practice.

Creating & Sustaining Civility in Nursing Education

Cynthia Clark — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 15:10:32 PST

Development and Description of the Culture/Climate Assessment Scale

Cynthia M. Clark et al. — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 08:35:38 PDT

This article describes the development, implementation, and preliminary psychometric testing of the Culture/ Climate Assessment Scale (CCAS), designed and used by a school of nursing. The CCAS comprises 37 items arranged into five scales of communication, decision support, level of conflict, teamwork, and general work satisfaction, as well as three additional items that measure personal level of stress, perceived level of change, and overall level of morale. Faculty and staff completed the CCAS in three progressive administrations over a 5-year period to provide empirical data to chart the progress to improve the organizational culture and climate of one school of nursing. Preliminary testing of the CCAS supports its continued use in nursing education and other academic environments

Healing from the Bitter Pill of Incivility

Cynthia M. Clark — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 16:20:32 PDT

Bullying has captured national attention lately, as "youthful teasing" escalates to pervasive, malicious, even dangerous levels. Yet, if only bullying stopped at high school. Nursing schools, hospitals, and private practices may not see schoolyard taunts, but incivility in the workplace certainly exists. Many minority nurses and other health professionals still experience various forms of prejudice at the workplace—not just from patients but each other. Here an expert on workplace bullying explores some examples and describes how nurses and schools of nursing can foster a more civil workplace.

Faculty and Student Perceptions of Academic Incivility in the People's Republic of China

Cynthia Clark et al. — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 12:05:48 PDT

This is the second article of a two-part series regarding nursing faculty and student perceptions of incivility in nursing education in the People's Republic of China (PRC). Nursing faculty from the United States of America (USA) and the PRC collaborated to conduct this empirical study. A sample of 382 Chinese nursing faculty and students responded to 4 open-ended questions on the Incivility in Nursing Education (INE) Survey. Both groups reported similar perceptions of uncivil behaviors, contributors to incivility, and ways to address the problem. A conceptual model for fostering civility in nursing education was adapted to illustrate the findings.

Using Transformational Change to Improve Organizational Culture and Climate in a School of Nursing

Pamela Springer et al. — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 08:56:20 PDT

A positive organizational culture and climate is closely associated with an affirming workplace and job satisfaction. Especially during a time of faculty shortages, academic leaders need to be cognizant of the culture and climate in schools of nursing. The culture of an organization affects employees, systems, and processes, and if the culture becomes problematic, transformational leadership is essential to create change. The purpose of this article is to describe an 8-year journey to change the culture and climate of a school of nursing from one of dissatisfaction and distrust to one of high employee satisfaction and trust. Kotter’s model for transformational change was used to frame a longitudinal study using the Cultural and Climate Assessment Scale to transform the organizational culture and climate of a school of nursing.

Beginning the Conversation: The Nurse Educator’s Role in Preventing Incivility in the Workplace

Cynthia M. Clark et al. — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 08:35:35 PDT

Though all nurses in practice have a responsibility to foster civility, the purpose of this article is to discuss the role of nurse educators in raising awareness in pre-licensure students about the continuum of incivility, giving them tools to address uncivil behaviors, and beginning the conversation about creating a culture of civility. We believe it is critical to raise awareness about the continuum of incivility in future nurses in order to prevent escalation of lesser degrees of uncivil behavior to more destructive forms of lateral violence.

Cyber-Bullying and Incivility in an Online Learning Environment, Part 2: Promoting Student Success in the Virtual Classroom

Cynthia Clark et al. — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 08:35:34 PDT

The appeal of online learning has increased dramatically among nurses who are pursuing higher-education opportunities. However, online learning has created potential avenues for uncivil behaviors that can affect student satisfaction, performance, and retention. This is the second of 2 articles detailing a study to empirically measure nursing faculty and student perceptions of an online learning environment (OLE). Part 1, in the July/August 2012 issue, described the quantitative results including the types and frequency of uncivil behaviors and the extent to which they are perceived to be a problem in online courses. In this portion of the study, the authors discuss the qualitative findings, including the challenges and advantages of the OLE, specific ways to foster civility, and strategies to promote student success and retention.

Nurses: Resetting the Civility Conversation

Cynthia M. Clark et al. — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 12:01:08 PDT

In this article, we hope to raise awareness of the existence and consequences of incivility, which we view as a necessary first step in resetting the conversation to the topic of civility. The essential empowering activities for us as nurses are to define, encourage, model, and embed the desired behaviors into our organizations.

We believe that nursing must amplify the national dialogue on creating civil work and learning environments. Nurses can be ambassadors and leaders for change. With more than 3 million nurses in the United States, no other licensed healthcare profession has the potential power that nurses hold as a group. If we could agree upon and unite behind common expectations for how we are treated and how we treat others, we have the ability to change school and workplace interactions.

Cyber-Bullying and Incivility in the Online Learning Environment, Part 1: Addressing Faculty and Student Perceptions

Cynthia M. Clark et al. — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 15:57:25 PDT

Online learning has created another potential avenue for incivility. Cyber-bullying, a form of incivility that occurs in an electronic environment, includes posting rumors or misinformation, gossiping, or publishing materials that defame and humiliate others. This is the first of 2 articles detailing a study to empirically measure nursing faculty and student perceptions of incivility in an online learning environment (OLE). In this article, the authors discuss the quantitative results including the types and frequency of uncivil behaviors and the extent to which they are perceived to be a problem in online courses. Part 2 in the September/October issue will describe challenges and advantages of the OLE, discuss specific ways to foster civility, and present strategies to promote student success and retention.

Using Problem-Based Learning Scenarios to Prepare Nursing Students to Address Incivility

Cynthia Clark et al. — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 09:06:00 PST

Introduction: Incivility may be a problem for nursing students as they progress through their nursing education and enter the workplace. Nursing faculty are challenged to construct meaningful learning experiences to address the problem and consequences of incivility.

Method: A problem-based learning scenario and Kirkpatrick’s model for evaluation were used to address incivility and the ‘‘reality shock’’ between what students learn about the practice of nursing and the interactions they may experience in the workplace.

Results: Students expressed a favorable reaction to the scenario and reported being better prepared to address incivility in the workplace.

Conclusions: Problem-based learning scenarios are an effective teaching strategy for instructing nursing students on the topic of incivility.

Nurse Residents’ First-Hand Accounts on Transition to Practice

Cynthia M. Clark et al. — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 09:05:58 PST

Background

The first year of nursing practice is critical to developing new graduate nurses into safe practitioners. Many new graduate nurses leave the profession because of job stress, lack of organizational support, poor nurse-physician relations, unreasonable workloads, uncivil work environments, and difficulty transitioning into practice. In response, Nurse Residency programs reflect an organizational commitment to support new nurses, allowing them time and support to become competent professional nurses.

Purpose and method

Thirty-seven new graduate nurses employed in a hospital in a northwestern state participated in a descriptive qualitative study to examine the “lived experience” as new nurses and to assess the level of job satisfaction during the first year of their nursing practice.

Results

New graduate nurses described themes related to their first year of nursing practice including rhythm in the chaos, feeling valued, stress from ‘not knowing’, life-long learning, and preserving the profession.

Conclusions

Having supportive preceptors and nursing staff, feeling valued by the health care team, and being perceived as a vital member of the organization contributed to job satisfaction and overall commitment to the profession.

Fostering Civility in Nursing Education and Practice: Nurse Leader Perspectives

Cynthia Clark et al. — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 13:53:04 PDT

Incivility in healthcare can lead to unsafe working conditions, poor patient care, and increased medical costs. The authors discuss a study that examined factors that contribute to adverse working relationships between nursing education and practice, effective strategies to foster civility, essential skills to be taught in nursing education, and how education and practice can work together to foster civility in the profession.

Faculty Empowerment of Students to Foster Civility in Nursing Education: A Merging of Two Conceptual Models

Cynthia Clark et al. — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 14:03:18 PDT

Academic incivility negatively impacts faculty and student well-being, weakens professional relationships, and impedes effective teaching and learning. This article addresses the prevalent concern of student incivility and provides useful strategies for faculty to empower students. Two conceptual models, Fostering Civility in Nursing Education and an Empowerment Model, were merged to illustrate how the concepts of civility and empowerment can be combined to foster civility in nursing education. Empowerment domains of motivation, psychic comfort, problem-solving, and self-direction are explored as influential factors promoting constructive reciprocal engagement and civility and, ultimately, enhancing professionalism in a complex and ever-changing health system.