Learning objectives:
LO 1: Recall protected legal characteristics that you should not discriminate on.
LO 2: Explore honesty, integrity and openness as pre-requisites to gaining respect
Recommended study time: 6 minutes.
The American Nurses Association defines incivility as any action that undermines a coworkers dignity and professional expectations of respect. In real life, incivility appears in many forms, including public humiliation or criticism, intimidation, discrimination, rudeness, discouraging input and unruly behaviour. Incivility is linked to poor patient care, increased medical errors, communication gaps and high staff turnover rates. Tackling incivility involves an examination of inter-personal and inter-disciplinary dynamics within healthcare teams and fostering a culture of respect, empathy, self-reflection and trust. These key values are a pre-requisite to a positive interpersonal team dynamic which enables productive communication, team performance and psychological wellbeing.
3.1 Do not discriminate
It is essential that you show respect to all your team members; namely fellow medical and healthcare students, clinical and non-clinical staff. Do not discriminate on culture, lifestyle, economic or social ranking, nor the following protected legal characteristics:
age
disability
gender reassignment
marriage and civil partnership
pregnancy and maternity
race
religion or belief
sex
sexual orientation.
Barriers to respect:
Unconscious bias - Attitudes, stereotypes and beliefs that influence your thought processing, actions or decisions without your conscious awareness of it.
How to overcome your unconscious bias?
Recognise a personal bias.
Reflect upon your patterns of behaviour and thought enabling the bias
Consciously build a new positive pattern/behaviour
3.2 Honesty, Integrity and Openness as pre-requisites to gaining respect
To earn your team's respect you must uphold integrity and honesty in all your conduct.
Activity: Decide if the following statements are true or false:
You must not plagiarise other peoples work, but copying from your own previous work is acceptable.
Do not mislead your supervisors about your qualifications and experiences.
If conducting research, report your findings truthfully and accurately.
When communicating information to colleagues, being pretty sure that what you're saying is correct is good enough.
Having a very valid reason to miss a day makes it acceptable for another student to sign in for you.
A junior doctor says they'll sign off a practical procedure for you if you explain the process. This is acceptable.
You must clarify to patients, carers and colleagues that you are a medical student and not a registered doctor
DO NOT SCROLL UNTIL YOU HAVE ATTEMPTED EACH STATEMENT
Answers:
False - You must not plagiarise from others or self plagiarise.
True
True
False - Make sure you double check the information you provide is correct and make it clear on any gaps or limits in your knowledge. Be honest in all interactions.
False - Don't say you have attended teaching sessions if you haven't. And don't ask another student to sign in for you.
False - Regardless of what the doctor said, you have a duty to be honest in the work you submit as part of your medical course. This means you must not claim to have done something, like a practical procedure on a clinical placement, if you have not.
True
3.3 A practical checklist to ensuring respect:
