According to Gallup polling, nurses are the most trusted profession in the U.S.—an honor they have held for the past 23 years. It’s no surprise that 76% of those polled considered nurses to be highly honest and ethical. In most medical situations, nurses are the front line of patient care, providing the treatment that alleviates suffering and promotes recovery. Yet this position of trust and responsibility is also one of high pressure, and the compassionate face most nurses show their patients may not be the one they show one another. As in other medical professions, among nurses there are reports of disruptive behavior, bullying, and incivility.
It has long been recognized that such behavior should have no place in medical settings. Among the Joint Commission’s leadership standards for accreditation are the requirements that a healthcare organization must have a code of conduct and a process to deal with disruptive behaviors. In addition, the American Nurses Association created a policy in 2015 to reduce disruptive behavior among nurses, noting the shared role and responsibility of “registered nurses (RNs) and employers to create and sustain a culture of respect, which is free of incivility, bullying, and workplace violence.”This acknowledges that disruptive behavior by individuals may be a symptom of a dysfunctional workplace culture. Therefore, solving a problem of unprofessional behavior is often not a matter of removing a bad apple but of finding constructive solutions that repair the culture as well as equipping individuals with the skills to foster communication, collaboration, and respect.
Unprofessional behaviors that affect team cohesion and morale may be overt and unmissable, but they can also be so subtle that they’re easy to miss if you’re not alert to them. Examples of problematic behavior can include:
While it might be easy to chalk up incidents like these as a personality clash that it isn’t worth making an issue of, tolerating disruptive behavior can have long-lasting and far-reaching consequences. The toxic environment created can negatively affect morale, drive higher turnover as nurses seek better working conditions, and contribute to burnout. Further, by interfering with the close interdependence that marks the best nursing teams, disruptive behavior can indirectly contribute to poorer patient outcomes.
Nurse leaders can play a strong role in reducing unwanted negative behavior by keeping an eye on their staff to stay aware of any emerging patterns, setting clear expectations about acceptable behavior, and providing education on what is appropriate and what is not. However, if a problem has already developed and become persistent, this may not be enough to reset organizational culture and give individuals the guidance they need to gain positive skills that will make them more effective leaders and team members.
Strengths-based executive coaching can help break a cycle of negative interactions and build the accountability and trust essential for a strong organizational climate in healthcare settings. By helping individuals gain insight into their strengths and weaknesses, this coaching can then focus on strategies that will help them:
This investment in the members of your team can provide the shift that helps them recognize the effect their behavior has on the organization, harness their strengths to create better interactions, and create a healthy environment of improved teamwork, patient care, and career growth.
At iRISE Executive Coaching, we specialize in working with healthcare professionals, and we are sensitive to the unique challenges faced by nurses, physicians, and other medical providers. Whether you’re facing your first report of disruptive behavior in your nursing staff or you’ve been struggling to change a culture that has gotten increasingly hostile, we can help you constructively address the issue. To schedule your consultation, contact us here.
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