Remember when "mind your manners" was admonition enough to ensure our civility? Something about that phrase implied that "manners" had authority over us and that we should "mind them"; that is, do what the "manners" said was right to do. Based on the national discussion on incivility, we do not seem to be "minding our manners." Behaviors once expected now need to be addressed in course syllabi, handbooks, and student and faculty orientation. A few resources may assist us in restoring civility to our nursing classrooms and our practice.
In 2010, Mark DeMoss's "Civility Project" (http://www.demossnews.com/civilityproject/) provided a simple pledge of civility and requested that elected officials sign the pledge. The project was terminated in January 2011 because of lack of participation. Only 3 members of Congress signed the pledge. Still, the pledge does provide guidelines for what we wish to emphasize in addressing civility: I will be civil in my public discourse and behavior; I will be respectful of others whether or not I agree with them; I will stand against incivility when I see it.
The John Hopkins University provides an informative civility Web site: http://krieger.jhu.edu/civility/index.html. Several books on the subject (Choosing Civility: The Twenty-Five Rules of Considerate Conduct, and The Civility Solution: What to Do When People Are Rude) are available for purchase. The site also provides a fairly extensive list of additional resources including books, articles, press releases, and workshop information.
The National Civility Center's Web site (http://www.civilitycenter.org/index.php) has an emphasis on civility in the community. A more extensive civility pledge encourages us to view everyone in positive terms, work on building common language, build strong relationships of trust, remember our shared humanity, value both the process and the results, and look both inside and outside for guidance.
Another civility Web site at Rutger's University (http://projectcivility.rutgers.edu/) has resources that simply invite us to say, "Thank you," or as momma said, "Mind your manners."
Submitted by: Robin E. Pattillo, PhD, RN, CNL, News Editor at [email protected].