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New Sentinel Event Alert targets disruptive behavior

Patient Safety Monitor Alert, July 16, 2008

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The Joint Commission has released its latest Sentinel Event Alert, targeting disruptive behavior by healthcare providers.

Disruptive behavior was considered as a possible National Patient Safety Goal for 2008 but was not selected. The Joint Commission has stated in this most recent alert that rudeness, unpleasant language, hostile attitudes, and other bad behaviors not only create an unpleasant environment but are detrimental to patient safety and quality of care.

This alert ties into new standards going into effect January 1, 2009, which will require healthcare organizations to create a code of conduct defining acceptable and unacceptable actions as well as crafting a process for dealing with poor behavior.

The Sentinel Event Alert provides 11 steps to curbing disruptive behavior. These include providing education and training for healthcare providers about professional behavior and appropriate interactions with coworkers; creating accountability for maintaining appropriate behavior; establishing a zero tolerance policy for disruptive behaviors and a means for enforcing this policy; and crafting non-confrontational methods for reporting and addressing inappropriate behavior.

The Joint Commission’s Sentinel Event Alert can be found online here.

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