This article presents a crucial study on the adaptation and validation of the Incivility in Nursing Education-Revised (INE-R) Survey into Turkish, aiming to assess its psychometric properties for use with nursing students and faculty in Turkey. Academic incivility is identified as a significant issue that disrupts the learning process for nursing students and negatively impacts the quality of nursing care, making the availability of valid and reliable measurement tools essential. This study is particularly important as there was previously no scale available in Turkey for measuring nursing students’ perceptions and the frequency of incivility.
The research was conducted as a methodological cross-sectional study, involving 522 nursing students from 11 different universities across Turkey, including 2nd, 3rd, and 4th-year students. Data collection occurred between April 20, 2021, and October 30, 2021, initially utilizing Google Forms due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and later shifting to face-to-face interactions for 42.1% of the sample. The study primarily focused on the faculty behaviors form of the INE-R, which consists of 24 items, allowing for student-faculty evaluations of perceived uncivil behaviors. The translation and adaptation process followed established international guidelines, including forward and back-translation, expert review, content validity assessment (achieving a Content Validity Index of 91%), and cognitive interviewing with students to ensure clarity and cultural appropriateness.
The key findings of the study demonstrate the strong validity and reliability of the Turkish INE-R (faculty form). Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) confirmed a good fit for the 24-item, two-factor structure (low-level incivility and high-level incivility), with robust fit indices such as CFI: 0.97, RMSEA: 0.06, and SRMR: 0.04. Factor loadings for the low-level incivility sub-dimension ranged from 0.47 to 0.74, while for the high-level incivility sub-dimension, they ranged from 0.91 to 1.00, indicating strong construct validity. In terms of reliability, the scale showed excellent internal consistency with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.952 for the total score, 0.899 for the low-level incivility subscale, and 0.991 for the high-level incivility subscale, which are consistent with existing literature. All items exhibited item-total correlation values above 0.30, confirming that items were well-interrelated and effectively measured the intended qualities. Furthermore, test-retest results showed no statistically significant differences, indicating the scale’s temporal stability. However, it is important to note that the construct validity results for the student behaviors form of the INE-R, when administered to faculty members, did not meet the desired acceptable fit criteria in this study.
In conclusion, the study unequivocally supports that the Turkish adaptation of the INE-R (faculty form), with its 2 sub-dimensions and 24 items, is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing Turkish nursing students’ perceptions of uncivil faculty behaviors and the frequency of their exposure. This significant work is expected to increase awareness of “civility” in Turkish nursing education and aid in establishing a more civil academic culture. The INE-R can be effectively used in nursing schools to assess the current landscape of perceived incivility, paving the way for future research to develop protocols aimed at preventing incivility and fostering civility. While the study has some limitations, such as a predominantly female sample and potential selection bias from online data collection during the pandemic, its findings are crucial for promoting positive learning environments in nursing education.
Reference: Konuk, T. G., Kural, Ş. K., & Dikmenc, Y. (2025). Adaptation of the incivility in nursing education-revised survey: a validity and reliability study. BMC nursing, 24(1), 1-8.
