Preventing Disruptive Behavior in Healthcare

Allison Hadley at SCCM conference 2019 — Duke Pediatrics Intensive Care Unit Fellow Allison Hadley presents on Disruptive Behaviors in the Healthcare Setting at the Society of Critical Care Medicine Conference, February 2019.

Hanging up the phone before a conversation is over. Humiliating, bullying or using derogatory language. These are not the qualities we look for in a work (or any) environment. New research shows that disruptive behaviors not only are undesirable, but they can affect teamwork and even the safety climate of a healthcare setting.

New research from Pediatrics Fellow Dr. Allison Hadley with Center team members Dr. Carrie Adair, Dr. Kyle Rehder, and Dr. Bryan Sexton used validated survey data to show the importance of addressing and preventing disruptive behaviors. With data collected from over 9,000 healthcare workers in over 300 work settings, the researchers showed that disruptive behaviors are significantly associated with well-being indicators like work-life balance and burnout.

Taking care of patients also means taking care of the providers who make healthcare possible. The Center is dedicated to researching teamwork and patient safety while also helping healthcare workers to implement strategies to improve and prevent disruptive behaviors and burnout.

Congratulations to Dr. Hadley, who presented this study at the Society of Critical Care Medicine 2019 conference (pictured above).