When incivility is a mental health problem and when a mental health problem is incivility: Echoes from South Africa

Abstract

The effects of incivility have been described as harmful. It negatively affects the lives of those involved, and concerns have been raised,  globally, regarding its effects on nursing education and patient care. Incivility generally seems to be often driven by more complex issues  such as personality traits, adjustment to work and studies, characteristics of developmental stages, lifestyle habits, cognition, physical, emotional, and mental health problems. The objectives of the study was to identify when incivility is a mental health problem and when a  mental health problem is incivility. As well as to describe the relationship between incivility and mental health problems from the  perspectives of South African professional nursing education. An exploratory descriptive qualitative design was employed in this study.  The study settings were a university-based nursing school and a nursing college collaborating with a university of technology. Nurse  educators (10) and students (15), were purposively sampled for data collection. Data were collected through semi-structured individual,  face-to-face interviews and saturation was reached at 23 participants. Participation in the study was voluntary and all discussions were  confidential. Incivility has been confirmed to be a moderate problem among academic staff and students, and even exists in clinical  settings in South Africa. Mostly emotions of anger and frustration, irritation, fear and anxiety, sadness, and hurt, as well as doubt and  inferiority were expressed and prolonged exposure to incivility can result in mental health problems. Students and nurse educators can  also present with mental illnesses that can be observed as problematic. Incivility holds devastating consequences for both perpetrators  and victims therefore, nurses in academics and clinical practice should have the ability to differentiate between incivility and mental  illnesses. Nurse practitioners, nurse educators, and nursing students need to be guided toward accessing emotional and psychological   support from the onset of experiencing incivility.