Taking a closer look at incivility in prelicensure nursing education: A narrative review of student-to-faculty incivility

Background: Incivility in undergraduate nursing education is a complex, multifaceted issue. Student-to-faculty incivility can be characterized by behaviors that negatively impact the faculties’ ability to perform and enjoy their job.

Purpose: To synthesize current research in undergraduate nursing education surrounding student-to-faculty incivility in the classroom setting.

Methods: A narrative review was performed on literature from 5 databases and retrieved articles’ reference lists. Relevant articles from 2018 until present were reviewed.

Results: Thematic analysis of 16 articles identified 4 key themes: (1) Types of incivility, (2) Causes of and influences on incivility, (3) Consequences of incivility, and (4) Strategies for addressing and mitigating incivility.

Conclusion: Student-to-faculty incivility contributes to many negative consequences in academia including decreased faculty retention and continuance of incivility into practice. Targeted interventions and institutional strategies should be developed to mitigate these behaviors.

This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Nurse Educator. The published version of record [Taking a Closer Look at Incivility in Prelicensure Nursing Education. Nurse Educator (2025)] is available online at: 10.1097/NNE.0000000000001834.