Nursing students’ experiences with faculty incivility in the clinical education context: a qualitative systematic review and meta-synthesis

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to synthesise evidence for the experiences and perceptions of incivility during clinical education of nursing students. DESIGN: We used a meta-aggregation approach to conduct a systematic review of qualitative studies. DATA SOURCES: Published and unpublished papers from 1990 until 13 January 2018 were searched using electronic databases, including CINAHL, PubMed (MEDLINE), ProQuest Central, ProQuest Education Journals, ProQuest XML-Dissertations and Theses, Web of Science, Embase, EBSCO Discovery Service and PsycINFO. The search for unpublished studies included the Open Grey collection, conference proceedings and the Deep Blue Library. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: We included qualitative studies that focused on nursing students' perceptions and experiences of incivility from faculty during their clinical education. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Two reviewers independently appraised the methodological quality and extracted relevant data from each included study. Meta-aggregation was used to synthesise the data. RESULTS: A total of 3397 studies was returned from the search strategies. Eighteen studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were included in the meta-synthesis. Six synthesised findings were identified, covering features of incivility, manifestations of incivility, contributing factors, impacts on students, coping strategies and suggestions. CONCLUSIONS: The results showed experiences of incivility during clinical education. However, the confidence was low for all synthesised findings. We suggest that nursing students should try to cope positively with incivility. Nurse managers and clinical preceptors should be aware of the prevalence and impact of incivility and implement policies and strategies to reduce incivility towards nursing students. Hospitals and universities should have an immediate response person or system to help nursing students confronting incivility and create an open communication environment.