Discussion postWorkplace incivility

DQ 1:What is professional civility/incivility?

A real conflict, and then a literature question. Incivility is not a synonym for rudeness — it has a definition, measurable outcomes and evidence about what resolves it.

Editorial process

Last reviewed · August 18, 2026

Written by

Maren Caldwell

MSN, RN, CNE

Medical-surgical nursing, pharmacology and NCLEX preparation

Reviewed by

Dr. Tessa Redmond

DNP, RN, CNE

Evidence-based practice and clinical education

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Interpret the task
Assignment instructions
Deliverables
Proposed outline
Research plan
Reference shortlist
Final review

Your own conflict, examined against the incivility literature

Choose a conflict you can describe without identifying anyone and that had an outcome worth analysing, then report how it was actually handled rather than how it should have been. The prompt asks a sharp follow-up: did the parties feel heard and did they consider the issues appropriately resolved. Those are different questions from whether the conflict stopped, and conflicts routinely stop without either being true — one party withdraws, or a manager imposes a solution and both sides comply. Say which happened. Then define the terms precisely, because incivility is not simply rudeness: the literature defines it as low-intensity deviant behaviour with ambiguous intent to harm, violating norms of mutual respect. The ambiguity is the defining feature and it is why incivility is hard to report — eye-rolling, exclusion from information, a sigh at a question — each incident is deniable and the pattern is not.

Then bring the evidence, since the prompt asks what the literature says about conflict resolution and the work environment. Incivility is associated with burnout, intention to leave, and impaired performance, and it has a documented patient-safety pathway: nurses experiencing incivility ask fewer clarifying questions and escalate concerns less readily, which is a mechanism rather than a correlation. New graduates and students are disproportionately affected, which is why nursing education treats it as a curriculum topic. On resolution, the evidence favours structural responses over interpersonal ones — cognitive rehearsal training that gives people a prepared response, explicit behavioural standards with a reporting route, and leader modelling — because telling people to be respectful does not survive a bad night. Close by naming what should have been done differently in your own case, using one of those structural options rather than a wish that people had communicated better.

Likely learning objectives

Report a conflict's handling honestly, separating cessation from resolution.
Define incivility by its low intensity and ambiguous intent.
Explain the mechanism linking incivility to patient safety.
Prefer structural interventions to exhortation.

Assignment instructions

Read the full question

Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.

NU625-7 Unit 5 DQ 1 Discussion Prompt All of us have been involved in various kinds of conflicts related to our work environment. Using a situation that you were involved in, describe the conflict and how it was handled. Was the outcome positive or negative? How did the involved parties feel about the resolution, did they feel that they were heard, that their issues were resolved in an appropriate manner? Based on what you have read in this unit, what could have been done to improve both the situation and the outcome? What is professional civility/incivility? How does this impact professional relationships an patient care outcomes? What incivility literature evidence is available that supports that conflict resolution impacts work environments and patient care? Estimated time to complete: 3 hours Discussion Peer/Participation Prompt Instructions: Please respond to at least 2 of your peer’s posts. To ensure that your responses are substantive, use at least two of these prompts: Do you agree with your peers’ assessment? Take an opposing view to a peer and present a logical argument supporting an alternate opinion. Share your thoughts on how you support their opinion and explain why. Present new references that support your opinions. Please be sure to validate your opinions and ideas with citations and references in APA format.

Course-wide instructions that accompany this question

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS Discussion Questions (DQ) Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words. Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source. NU625-7 Unit 5 DQ 1 One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words. I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses. Weekly Participation Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately. In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies. Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work). Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week. APA Format and Writing Quality Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required). Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation. I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition. Use of Direct Quotes I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly. As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content. It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source. LopesWrite Policy For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me. Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes. Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own? Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score. Late Policy The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies. Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances. If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect. I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension. As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading. Communication Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class. Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.

Turn the brief into deliverables

01A described conflict with an outcome.
02An honest answer about whether the parties felt heard.
03Definitions of civility and incivility.
04A mechanism connecting incivility to patient outcomes.
05Evidence about what resolves it, and a structural alternative for your case.