Abstract
<title>Abstract</title> <p> <bold>Purpose</bold> : This study examined the pathway through which patient incivility affects nurses’ behaviors to maintain patient dignity, and the moderating role of future time orientation. <bold>Background</bold> : Patient incivility is a pressing occupational stressor in healthcare. Prolonged exposure may reduce nurses' willingness to uphold patient dignity, impacting care quality. Investigating boundary conditions and buffering mechanisms has practical value for improving nursing quality and nurse-patient relationships. <bold>Research design:</bold> A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 593 clinical nurses from 6 tertiary hospitals in East China by using the convenience sampling method. Hypotheses were tested with Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). <bold>Ethical considerations:</bold> This study was approved by the authors University’s ethics committee (number: details omitted for double-anonymized peer review). Written consent was obtained from all participants. <bold>Results:</bold> Patient incivility negatively predicted nurses’ behaviors to maintain patient dignity (β = -0.199, P < 0.001). Future time orientation showed a significant moderating effect (β = 0.106, P < 0.001). Simple slope tests revealed a significant negative effect of incivility when future orientation was low (mean -1 SD, β = -0.621, P < 0.001), but not when it was high (mean +1 SD, β = -0.153, P = 0.108). <bold>Conclusions:</bold> Future time orientation buffers the negative impact of patient incivility. Organizationally, future-oriented cognitive training should be integrated into nurse competency development. Institutionally, establishing patient conduct codes and nurse protection mechanisms can create a dual "stress buffering – rights protection" strategy, offering a practical and theoretical basis for enhancing humanistic care. </p>