Civility Component of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) Leadership Standard
Workplace civility refers to authentic respect for others ( Schyve, 2009) . Civility is normally exhibited through courtesy, manners, politeness, and general awareness of the rights, concerns, feelings, and wishes of others. It demands that one act and speak in a manner that shows respect, restraint, responsibility, and principle. Further, incivility incorporates a range of rude, demeaning, intimidating, and disruptive behavior, including both overt and non-verbal behaviors such as spreading rumors, smirking, or making demeaning remarks about a colleague ( Schyve, 2009) . To curb the occurrences and the adverse impact of incivility behavior in accredited healthcare organizations, the JHACO developed and passed leadership standard, which requires all healthcare organizations to adopt a code of conduct and procedures to mitigate disruptive behaviors by nurses, physicians, and other clinicians. This leadership standard focuses on promoting civility, rather than remedying incivility ( Schyve, 2009) . It recognizes that positive interpersonal interactions occur in workplace settings where workers are sufficiently engaged, where teamwork and support for each other prevails, and where employees feel a sense of belonging to a cohesive unit. In other words, people tend to behave politely towards one another in workplaces where they feel included and supported ( Villafranca, Hamlin, Enns, & Jacobsohn 2017) . As such, organizational leaders in the healthcare sector are required to focus on improving work climate factors such as cohesion, inclusion in decision making, team support, and general concern for worker well-being.
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Additionally, the JHACO leadership standard addresses a continuum of disruptive, intimidating, and demeaning behaviors and how they impact healthcare outcomes. According to Villafranca et al. ( 2017) , incivility undermines the culture of safety because it critically threatens patent safety and employee satisfaction. In addition, these incivility behaviors can result in medical errors, poor and unsatisfactory patient care, adverse patient outcomes, escalated costs of care, and even cause competent nurses and other healthcare practitioners to quit their jobs ( Villafranca et al., 2017) . As such, The JHACO leadership standard requires leaders to establish a stringent zero-tolerance policy for incivility conduct. Leaders are also expected to foster true collaboration in the workplace, authentic leadership, ease of communication, inclusivity in decision making, and proper staffing ( Villafranca et al., 2017) . Equally important, Schyve (2009) indicated that nursing leaders are required to provide education and counselling programs on a regular basis to ensure nurses are well equipped to maneuver any inappropriate or disruptive behaviors in the workplace, develop a reporting system for these behaviors, monitor the occurrences of incivility closely, and take appropriate disciplinary actions against the perpetrators, and also act as role models.
Past Experience of Incivility in my Workplace
Throughout my career as a psychiatric nurse, I have encountered numerous acts of incivility, both as a recipient and as a bystander. During my first days in the new workplace, I reached out to a colleague to help me handle some tasks because I was overwhelmed with competing duties. However, instead of helping me out or responding in a courteous manner, she just rolled her eyes, said ‘no’ with a condescending tone, and walked away in disgust. I felt a sense of hostility in my new workstation, and mentally fatigued and helpless. In the second occasion, my colleague was continuously subjected to micromanagement and intimidation by her supervisor. She would always come to me complaining about how she was mentally and emotionally disturbed by her supervisor’s incivility behavior. In one instance, I heard the supervisor call her lazy loudly, putting her down in front of other workers.
How I would handle the Situation Differently Now
After researching and learning about the JHACO leadership standard requirements for enhancing civility in healthcare organizations, I now understand that every employee is entitled to a safe and conducive work environment that is free disruptive, demeaning, intimating, and all other actions that may amount to incivility. Therefore, in the face of such acts in the future, I would not retreat either physically or emotionally, or even retaliate by picking up a fight. However, I would report the matter to the higher authority in the organization to investigate the issue and take appropriate measures per the JHACO’s stipulations.
References
Schyve, P. M. (2009). Leadership in healthcare organizations: A guide to joint commission leadership standards, a governance institute white paper . Governance Institute.
Villafranca, A., Hamlin, C., Enns, S., & Jacobsohn, E. (2017). Disruptive behavior in the perioperative setting: a contemporary review. Canadian Journal of Anesthesia , 64 (2), 128-140.
