Joint Commission wants to set standards for how hospitals deal with disruptive behavior

I’ve posted about the concept of the “disruptive physician” here, here, here, here and here. Joint Commission’s latest proposal defines the problem this way (italics mine): “Disruptive behavior is conduct displayed by a health care professional that negatively impacts the quality or safety of care or has the potential to do so. Disruptive behavior may also intimidate staff, affect staff morale, and lead to staff turnover. Disruptive behavior may be verbal or non-verbal, and often involves the use of rude language, facial expressions, threatening manners, or even physical abuse.” Well, that’s kind of scary. Any behavior somebody else doesn’t like could be interpreted as disruptive and result in corrective measures (counseling, sensitivity training, psychiatric evaluation or worse) for the “offender.” It could also provide leverage to shove somebody out whose thinking happens to be a bit too original.

There’s one aspect of the proposal that I like. It doesn’t single out physicians. There’s a uniform standard that applies to all---physicians, administrators, nurses, etc.

(Via MSSPNexus blog)