Health Care Professionals’ Disruptive Behaviors Impact Patient Care

The increased incidence of nurse-physician conflicts in the workplace prompted the Joint Commission to make a zero-tolerance policies, the problem is, how is it going to be implemented?

A survey conducted to 13,000 physician and nurse executives conducted by the American College of Physician Executives revealed that 48% of medical executives say doctors and nurses are equally culpable for conflict; 45% say doctors are mostly to blame. Though the Joint Commission has addressed the issue, the organizations are still having a hard time dealing with it. According to respondents of the survey, doctors are given better consideration and nurses are more frequently terminated for bad behavior.

Suggestions that came up included finding the root cause of the disruptive behavior, use of constructive criticism, and addressing one’s own staff who displays disruptive behavior.

Nurse-Physician Conflicts

Physicians behaving badly is not a new issue for nurses. A lot of nurses, if not all, has their own story of being yelled at, getting blamed for something that has gone wrong, or experiencing some other form of demeaning or offensive behavior from doctors. Being at the exact time of the incident can make nurses emotional and of course have the urge to talk back. However, it may not be a very good idea to get into an argument at the time when emotions of anger are stirring up especially if we are both in the clinical area. Delayed treatment will affect the patient which may even cost them their life. If the physicians are not able to act in a professional manner, then we nurses should be the ones to give way and let the moment pass but it doesn’t mean that we will tolerate such treatment. Incidents like these should be reported to the nurse managers or whoever in the administrative position is supposed to address these issues so it will be resolved in a professional manner without the patients witnessing immature actions from the persons responsible for their care. As for the arbitrators, they should investigate incidents thoroughly and reprimand fairly.

Disruptive Behaviors Between Nurses

In my experience, conflict doesn’t arise solely between nurses and physicians but between nurses themselves which leaves me to think at least physicians leave the floor when they’re done, co-nurses (especially nurse managers) stay with you the entire shift.

In the first hospital that I worked in, senior nurses had really great camaraderie- but only between themselves. I had to work on their terms, putting up with unfair scheduling and policies that only worked in favor of them. Anyone who retaliates will face serious consequences, termination as the worst. There was no one we could turn to because people in the administrative department are listening to no one but the nurse managers and senior nurses. Unions are prohibited in this institution and any attempt to organize one is enough grounds for termination.

For nurses in this kind of situation, what are nurses left to do especially in this time of financial need we cannot afford to be unemployed?