Groups develop model policies on disruptive behavior

Two prominent organizations in the healthcare professional arena--the American College of Physician Executives and the American Organization of Nurse Executives--have developed a new set of policies, online classes and information designed to improve relationships between providers and decrease disruptive behavior.

The politics include conflict-management training and "no tolerance" policies regarding disruptive behavior by nurses and physicians. The idea, of course, is to improve working relationships--which, in our experience, have been known to see some spectacular flameouts when nurses confront doctors over hospital policies such as pre-flight surgical checks.

The new rules are in response to the Joint Commission's new standards, which went into effect Jan. 1 of this year. The Joint Commissions rules that hospitals must take steps to address disruptive behavior. The policies have raised a fair amount of resentment from physicians, who have argued that because terms were poorly defined, the new rules could subject them to meritless disciplinary actions.

To learn more about these policies:
- read this Modern Physician piece

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