Interprofessional simulation: Preparing health sciences students to navigate incivility

Abstract

Healthcare workers face uncivil behaviors from patients, families, and visitors that may impact their well-being. Students in the health sciences may be less likely to experience incivility in the clinical setting, making them less prepared to deal with these stressful situations until after graduation. A convenience sample of 54 students from respiratory therapy, nursing, and physician associate programs participated in the simulation. A simulation exposing health sciences students to uncivil behavior was designed and implemented based on International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning (INASCL) standards. To determine student exposure to prior uncivil behavior, the Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised (NAQ-R) was instituted before and after the simulation. Areas that showed an increase in awareness post-simulation focused on person-related and physically intimidating bullying. This study sought to introduce incivility in an interprofessional simulation to provide students with the opportunity to understand the definitions of incivility and strategies to help navigate such exposures in the future.