Joint Commission warns against staff hostility

OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill. – The Joint Commission (www.JointCommission.org), which accredits health care organizations, issued a “sentinel event alert” this month warning that rude language and hostile behavior among health care professionals goes beyond being unpleasant and poses a serious threat to patient safety and the overall quality of care.
Along with the alert, the commission is introducing new standards requiring the more than 15,000 organizations that it accredits to create codes of conduct that define acceptable and unacceptable behaviors and establish a formal process for managing unacceptable behavior.
The new standards are to take effect Jan. 1 for hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies, laboratories, ambulatory care facilities and behavioral health care facilities.
The “sentinel event alert” recommends 11 specific steps to curb bad behavior. •

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