Incivility and Professional Comportment in Critical Care Nurses.

BACKGROUND: Civility among critical care nurses is important for achieving positive patient outcomes. Professional comportment refers to nurse behaviors that are respectful, knowledgeable, deliberate, and compassionate.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between perceptions of nurse-to-nurse incivility and professional comportment among critical care nurses, and the extent to which nurse characteristics influence their perceptions.

METHODS: Data were collected from nurses in 14 critical care units. Correlational analysis examined the relationship between nurses' perceptions of nurse-to-nurse incivility and professional comportment. Regression analysis was used to identify predictors of nurse-to-nurse incivility.

RESULTS: Decreased perceptions of nurse-to-nurse incivility were associated with increased perceptions of professional comportment. Nurses' reports of receiving education about professional comportment was a significant predictor of increased nurse perceptions of professional comportment.

CONCLUSION: Professional comportment education for critical care nurses is important and may provide an option to decrease incivility and promote healthy work environments for nurses.