Join me and bring a friend!
This blog represents my experiences and my opinion only - often at the bedside.
All posts are short enough for easy reading - therefore I couldn't possibly share all there is to share. This blog is snippets in the life of a patient safety advocate.
Now you can purchase my book of my favorite blog posts and great advocacy tips!
www.icorina.com.
Thank you for visiting.
Ilene Corina
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Monday, September 21, 2015
Disruptive Behavior
Disruptive Behavior Can Change Outcomes
“Disruptive behavior” in
healthcare is a fairly new term to explain medical professionals who may otherwise be called rude, arrogant and not easy to get along with. An article in USAToday describes disruptive doctors as a patient safety risk. For many reasons they are a patient safety
risk including that others won’t stand up to someone who is intimidating and probably
bringing in money for the hospital or practice.
Arrogance, bullying and
disruptive behavior is not only in the operating room. It can be seen in meetings and in the board
room.
A few years ago, I was at a
meeting with a number of high level medical professionals. All who seemed to get a long and respect one
another. When one physician told a story
of her caring for a patient and how the outcome affected her and can be
important for others to learn from, another well respected physician, who didn’t
agree that that experience should be counted as a “measurement” began to raise
his voice and become argumentative and explain that she was wrong. This physician was louder and much more aggressive
to get his point across. His comfort
with his own behavior made me realize that this is not new. I intervened and shared my displeasure. When it was all over, the physician chairing
the committee announced to the group of about 30 people, including the newcomers
that it is wonderful that we can all share our thoughts and ideas in a conversation and still get
along and be respectful.
I followed up in a letter to
the leadership of this group, some who are deeply involved in “disruptive
behavior” that this behavior was not respectful nor a conversation. The physician who was telling her story was “attacked” (she admitted that to me). Her colleague was rude, aggressive and being “disruptive”. My letter was taken seriously and acted upon.
It is important that we, as
patients are not afraid to speak up. We
MUST acknowledge that there are improvements being worked on in patient safety
and improving the patient experience but it may never leave the c-suite. If the information doesn’t get to the
bedside, it is up to us, the patients and advocates working in patient safety
to make sure patients and families feel supported when speaking up.
If you feel disrespected by a sales person, auto mechanic or customer service representative, you have a choice to not return and give them your business. The same holds true for medical professionals. We can't live in a world thinking that we must tolerate behavior that makes us uncomfortable. If they treat us, the patient that way, its probably affecting their work and their relationship with their team.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)