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Idle talk: Improve your work environment by stopping gossip

Nurse Leader Weekly, January 16, 2006

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Create a communication policy

One way to discourage gossip at your organization is to write a communication policy. Regardless of what causes the negative communication among your staff, failing to address it in your policies and procedures leaves you with little recourse if the situation escalates, says Rosemarie Nelson, MS, a practice management consultant from Syracuse, NY. To help you draft your communication policy, Marge McQuade, CMM, CMSCS, Professional Development Coordinator of the Professional Association of Healthcare Coding Specialists in Brooksville, FL, W. Lyle Oelrich Jr., MHA, CHE, CMPE, from the consulting firm Pershing Yoakley & Associates in Knoxville, TN, and Nelson offer the following seven suggestions:

1. Ask your staff for input on the communication policy. Broach the topic of a communication policy in a nonconfrontational setting (e.g., a routine staff meeting or luncheon), and come prepared.

2. Write from the positive, not the negative. Although your communication policy may mention gossip, it should not come across as harsh or negative. The policy should encourage positive communication by including behavior you'd like to see (e.g., "We will speak respectfully to each other").

3. Keep it general. Even though you should list specific positive behavior, keep the overall policy general.

4. Take disciplinary action. Just as your other policies have consequences, follow through with discipline for violations of the communication policy. For example, the policy could state, "Staff who violate the communication policy will receive one verbal and one written warning. Any subsequent offense could result in immediate termination."

5. Take it to a lawyer. Because termination may be the ultimate consequence of your policy, have your legal department review the document before presenting a final policy to your staff or adding it to your policy and procedure manual and employee handbook.

6. Train your staff. Adding a communication policy is not enough; you must train your staff to use it. Teach effective communication and offer examples of both positive and negative discussions. Your staff may not even realize that their remarks are detrimental to the people and the well-being of your practice.

7. Get staff to sign off. Ideally, you got your staff to buy in to the policy by allowing them input, so the final step in the process should be easy. Ask all staff to sign that they have received, read, and understood the new policy.

Source: This article is adapted from Patient Care Staffing Report (January 2006), published by HCPro, Inc.

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