Influence of Clinical Incivility on the Self-Efficacy of Student Nurses in a Private College of Nursing

Abstract

Introduction: The phrase “nurses eat their young” reflects a persistent issue in clinical environments, wherein incivility—defined as low-intensity, discourteous, or deviant behavior, whether intentional or unintentional—negatively affects nursing students. Such behaviors compromise communication, teamwork, confidence, and, importantly, students’ self-efficacy. This study aimed to assess the levels of clinical incivility and self-efficacy among student nurses and to examine the relationship between these variables. Methods: A quantitative descriptive-correlational research design was employed. The research was conducted at a private tertiary institution in Iloilo City, involving 305 second to fourth-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing students selected through stratified random sampling. Results: The domains of clinical incivility were manifested in the majority of nursing students experienced inconsiderate behavior (r= -0.112, p= 0.051) showed the highest occurrence of moderate-level behavior problems while the Abusive Supervision (r= -0.052, p= 0.366) was the least experienced domain. Overall, nursing students experienced mild clinical incivility (r= -0.067, p= 0.242), with inconsiderate behaviors being most frequent. Participants maintained high self-efficacy, demonstrating confidence in their ability to solve problems through effort (M= 3.22). Discussion: Although overall clinical incivility was not significantly associated with self-efficacy, a weak but statistically significant positive correlation was found between inappropriate joking behaviors and self-efficacy (r = 0.117, p = 0.041). This suggests that such behaviors may have a minimal association with slightly elevated self-efficacy, although the nature of this relationship requires further investigation. Recommendations: To implement a standardized approach, nursing institutions could consider widening academic clinical partnerships‚ developing anti-incivility policies‚ training faculty and staff on respectful communication‚ and providing structured resiliency programs that focus on student self-efficacy development‚ emotional health and wellbeing‚ and professional development․