Nurse´ profiles in evaluating incivility: Even a slight sexism in employment affects the evaluation.

BACKGROUND: Workplace incivility is a serious concern in the healthcare setting worldwide. Creating nurse profiles related to perceiving and tolerating an uncivil episode and addressing how sexism impacts this evaluation may help administrators take action to reduce this work health problem and to increase safety at work.

METHODS: A total of 557 nurses (63% women) were asked to read a hospital scene describing an episode of incivility from a nurse leader towards a nurse employee. They then completed a self-report questionnaire that measured how they evaluate the situation regarding their awareness, tolerance, and their beliefs toward sexism.

FINDINGS: Two clusters emerged showing two distinct nurse profiles: high-sensitivity (higher in awareness and lower in tolerance for incivility) and medium-sensitivity (lower in awareness and more tolerance for incivility). Medium-sensitivity nurses were significantly higher in sexism in employment, and thus, their evaluation of workplace incivility was different from that of highly sensitive nurses.

CONCLUSIONS: The majority of nurses are sensitive to workplace incivility, but those with sexist tendencies in employment are less aware and tolerate uncivil episodes to a greater extent. In fact, sexists belong to the second profile, which could affect their relationships and health.

APPLICATION TO PRACTICE: Although most nurses are sensitive to uncivility, it is still necessary to train nurses to be aware of workplace incivility, especially in those demonstrating sexism.