Addressing Disruptive and Unprofessional Physician Behavior

摘要

Disruptive behavior is “personal conduct, whether verbal or physical, that negatively affects or that potentially may negatively affect patient care.”1 This behavior can be overt, as with the use of profane, disrespectful, insulting, demeaning, insensitive, or abusive language; negative comments about colleagues (spoken or in the patient’s chart); verbal intimidation; inappropriate arguments with patients, family members, or colleagues; rudeness; boundary violations; outbursts of anger; bullying behavior; throwing or breaking things; or use or threat of unwarranted physical force with patients, family members, or colleagues. It can also be covert or passive, such as refusal to comply with known and generally accepted practice standards; repeated failure to respond or late response to calls or requests for information or assistance when expected to be available; not working collaboratively with others; and creating rigid or inflexible barriers to requests for assistance. 2 Disruptive behavior is common in health care, with 77% of respondents in one large survey reporting having witnessed such behavior in physicians. 3 Although only 5% to 6% of physicians overall are reported to exhibit disruptive behavior, 4 the detrimental effects are disproportionately large.