Developing Civility Agency in Academic Nursing: A Developmental Conceptual Framework

BACKGROUND: The importance of fostering civility in academic nursing is well established; however, research has focused primarily on describing civility and evaluating interventions rather than explaining how civility develops. Consequently, nursing education lacks a developmental framework explaining how civility is intentionally cultivated and translated into consistent professional action. METHOD: Grounded in Bandura's social cognitive theory, the Civility Agency Framework was systematically derived from the Middle-Range Theory of Civility in Academic Nursing through theoretical synthesis. RESULTS: The Civility Agency Framework conceptualizes civility agency as eight interdependent dimensions organized within three developmental phases that collectively explain how individuals intentionally develop and sustain civility in academic nursing. CONCLUSION: The Civility Agency Framework advances nursing education by providing a theoretically grounded foundation for intentionally cultivating civility throughout nursing education.