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Incivility Experiences of New Graduate Nurses
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- Author / Creator
- Blackstock, Sheila
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Background: New graduate nurses (NGNs) continue to experience co-worker incivility even when educational interventions, transition programs, and workplace policies and programs are provided. Incivility contributes to NGNs leaving the nursing profession at staggering rates contributing to an overall shortage of nurses.
Aim: What are the organizational structures, nurse leadership roles, and work conditions contributing to NGNs’ co-worker incivility experiences?
Data Sources: Data from Starting Out National Survey, Time 1 data (November 2012-March 2013).
Methods: This dissertation is comprised of three studies, an integrative review (IR), theoretical approach to coworker incivility, and a quantitative secondary analysis. The IR of organizational antecedents, policy, and horizontal violence among nurses found that organizational situational factors sustain hierarchies and power inequalities oppressing registered nurses (RNs). The results of the IR showed that NGNs were only mentioned peripherally, and evidence showed that they were more vulnerable to incivility. Building on the core concepts of prior research on incivility among nurses the researcher draws from Ecological Systems Theory to propose an ecological model of NGNs’ co-worker incivility experiences. A quantitative analysis using multiple linear regression was used to assess the relationships between independent variables (e.g., structural empowerment, trust in management, authentic leadership, and areas of worklife) to NGNs’ co-worker incivility experiences.
Results: The IR findings indicated there were relationships between organizational hierarchies to nursing leaders’ lack of job authority. The ecological approach allowed for the exploration of select variables related to NGNs’ co-worker incivility experiences. The variables were placed within a hypothesized model informed by the IR findings, and a literature review of NGNs’ incivility experiences. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory (1978;1979), Laschinger et al.’s (2016) adaption of Scott et al.’s (2008) New Graduate Transition model were used to develop an ecological approach that considers the factors affecting NGNs. Through situating the variables within the model, relationships were hypothesized. The multiple linear regression found predictive relationships between NGNs’ perceptions of workplace empowerment and areas of worklife to coworker incivility when controlling for important variables. Hypothesis 1 (H1): There was a significant negative relationship between workplace empowerment and the perceptions of co-worker incivility by NGNs. Hypothesis 2 (H2): There was a significant negative linear relationship between areas of worklife and the perceptions of NGNs’ coworker incivility. Hypothesis 3 (H3): There was a nonsignificant negative relationship between authentic leadership and NGNs’ perceptions of coworker incivility.
Conclusion: NGNs’ perceptions of workplace empowerment and areas of worklife drive co-worker incivility experiences. A workplace empowerment measure should include items reflecting NGNs’ perceptions of nurse leadership control of workloads and access to human resources. New graduate nurses’ perceptions of authentic leadership would benefit from workplace empowerment of the nurse leader in workplace environments to mitigate coworker incivility experiences. A new measure that captures the relationship between a nurse leader, formal authority within the job role as it relates to NGNs’ workloads, resources, and perception of trust is discussed in relation to NGNs’ co-worker incivility experiences is recommended.
Implications: Situating NGNs’ coworker incivility experiences within an ecological approach, assists researchers, policy analysts, and nursing leaders to deepen the understanding of the problem of incivility. Second, understanding how workplace empowerment could be used to support authentic nursing leaders within their job roles through provision of formal authority provides an opportunity for nurse leaders to improve NGNs’ job control and access to resources. Third, this study contributes a new understanding of the interrelatedness of roles, and decision-making authority or lack thereof, to arm nursing students with knowledge to advocate for systemic change and to further understand nursing leaders’ roles.
Future Research: Importantly, the nested impacts of organizational antecedents to NGNs’ coworker incivility experiences within an ecological framework, and measures that capture nursing leader’s job roles in relation to human resources and NGNs’ workloads are needed. If nurse leaders have formal job authority within their job roles, then workload management systems could accurately reflect NGNs’ and nurse leaders’ nursing practice environments. -
- Subjects / Keywords
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- Graduation date
- Spring 2021
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- Type of Item
- Thesis
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- Degree
- Doctor of Philosophy
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- License
- This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.