The Viral Impact of Incivility

"Rudeness is a contagion." — Observe how a single uncivil interaction spreads through a clinical team, degrading cognitive bandwidth and patient safety.

Clinical Team Network

Simulation Paused

Inject Behaviour:
Team Performance Metrics
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Ability to process cues and identify pathology (Riskin et al.).
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Technical execution of skills (e.g. intubation, CPR).
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Willingness to assist colleagues or share info (Porath & Erez).
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Available mental resources for clinical reasoning.
Impact Analysis

Inject a behaviour to see the evidence-based analysis...

The Evidence Base

Civility Saves Lives

Rudeness is not just unpleasant; it is unsafe. Incivility triggers a threat response in the brain, diverting blood flow and energy away from the prefrontal cortex (analytical thinking) towards the amygdala (fight or flight).

Porath & Erez (2007)

In simulated environments, witnessing rudeness reduced helpfulness by 50% and creativity by 30%. Teams stopped sharing information to protect themselves from the aggressor.

Riskin et al. (2015)

NICU teams exposed to mild rudeness ("The foreign teams do this better") performed significantly worse in diagnostic and procedural tasks. The drop in performance was equivalent to sleep deprivation.