Nursing Student Incivility in the Classroom, Clinical Setting, and On-Line

There is an excellent article in the Journal of Nursing Law, Vol. 12, Issue 2 (2008) I received in the mail yesterday titled:

Managing Nursing Student Incivility in the Classroom, Clinical Setting, an On-Line

There are a number of nursing students who frequent this blog, so please tell me, is this an issue? Are today's nursing students more hostile towards nursing faculty? Why is Nursing Student Incivility such a hot topic at nurse educator CE meetings and seminars?

Are the nursing students of today less civil than the nursing students of yesteryear?

As a nursing student, do you think nursing faculty treat students fairly? Are the generational issues between boomers, Ys, and Xs, etc. the issue here or is it something more?

Comments

[latonia]

Dear Lisa,

Thank you for your comment. I graduated from nursing school in the early 90s and while the instructors did not inspire fear, there was respect and admiration for the instructors and professors. I taught a graduate level nursing course in the 2000s and was surprised by the attitude and sense of entitlement of some nurses in the graduate program. The nursing students of yesterday are not the nursing students of today and a colleague of mine who works as Hospital Legal Counsel commented recently on the "factory mentality" and "blue collar like" personality traits, professionalism, and work ethics of some of the newly licensed nurses (the ages varied from twenties to fifties) in their facility.

[Lisa]

Hi LaTonia,
I stumbled upon your most excellent blog, and although you are asking the questions of nursing students, as a nursing faculty member, I want to weigh in. It is amazing at the difference between nursing students today and those of even ten years ago. (nursing students: please understand that these comments are generalizations...there are, thankfully, some excellent students out there!) I think it is a generational problem, and most likely, one we (yes, I'm lumping myself in to that group!) as parents have created. There seems to be a general lack of respect. Holding students accountable for poor grades, missing homework, inability to meet deadlines, poor performance in the classroom and/or clinical setting has become increasingly difficult. Students (in all disciplines) are now treated as 'customers' of the college or university, and parents (heavily invested financially and emotionally) have become increasingly powerful. Truly, there are nursing instructors out there who do nothing to command or earn respect, and they get what the deserve back from their students. But in general, nursing faculty are dedicated (we're definitely not in it for the money!) and turn themselves inside out trying to produce quality nurses. I certainly don't want to bring back the days (I graduated from nursing school in the 80's) when nursing instructors inspired fear in their students. But a little respect for our experience and a healthy dose of humility would be refreshing! Thanks for listening. Lisa