When I speak with hospital administrators, many times the topic of disruptive physician behavior comes up. Now that has some obvious reasons. Disruptive physician behavior can damage the hospitals reputation tremendously and it can cost the organization lots of money. It is actually estimated that unnecessary turnover rates alone costs health care organizations more than $150,000 per disruptive physician. Additionally, a new survey about physician-nurse relationships uncovers a strikingly high prevalence of disruptive physician behavior that is affecting nurse retention. It showed that disruptive behavior by physicians is contributing to fuel the nationwide nursing shortage, heavily impacting job satisfaction and morale for nurses.The survey results also revealed the seriousness of the issue and highlight a lack of physician awareness, appreciation, value and respect for nurses.

As a result, disruptive physician behavior has a negative impact on patient quality care and increases ... Read More »

Workplace bullying has been a hot topic since the release of the 2007 Zogby survey, which showed that 49% of American workers report that they’ve been the target of a bully’s bad behavior.  Employers have begun instituting tolerance training and implementing respectful-workplace policies.  Awareness is key in preventing this prevalent workplace disease. One way to make top management place value on eliminating jerks at work is to talk dollars.

Bullying costs companies big money. Here are some of the ways that your bottom line is directly affected if you fail to eradicate bullying at work:

1. Targeted employees have higher absenteeism rates

Wouldn’t you? When the workplace becomes increasingly intolerable and unpleasant, people stop coming to work.

2. Decreased productivity

Those who do manage to ge ... Read More »

Health Care

The Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health Care Organizations is requiring new standards for “disruptive behavior” among professional healthcare staff. Disruptive physician behavior has been determined to increase medical errors and risk patient safety. These new requirements have created a Cottage Industry for specialized anger management facilitators nationwide. Resources designed to address this issue are now available on-site as well as locations in a number of major cities.

The dramatic rise in the incidence in “traumatic stress disorder” among returning Iraq veterans has increased the need for Clinical Social Workers, Psychologists and Psychiatrists to seek certification training in anger management since person directed aggression is a chronic problem for veterans with this diagnosis. As experts in the treatment of post- traumatic stress disorder, VA Hospitals and V ... Read More »

August 20, 2008 by twentzphd

If you see one of your colleagues hitting, kicking or throwing their computer, they might be suffering from what Eclipse Internet calls E-rage.

Eclipse recently carried out a survey into the effects of email downtime on business owners and workers. They found that for some, the frustration of not having access to email can see them resort to extreme measures in an attempt to ‘fix’ the problem.

In Newcastle upon Tyne, a whopping 77% of office workers and company owners agree that e-mail downtime causes major stress at work. But it would seem that office workers in this city are less prone to E-rage than in other parts of the UK. Only 6% of workers in Newcastle would take out their frustration by kicking their PC compared to 18.5% in what appears to be a very angry Glasgow.

Mark Thomas from Eclipse Internet said: “We wanted to understand the impact of email downtime ... Read More »

Work bullies can ruin a culture, destroy productivity and make your life — and those of everyone else they target — miserable.

And it’s not just bullying bosses who are the problem. Co-workers and employees also use bullying behavior, which creates a hostile workplace.

Excluding lethal weapons, here are the top dozen techniques bullies use to ruin a workplace.

-Yelling, physical threats and throwing things. This in-your-face method makes targets think actual physical attacks will follow.

-Verbal abuse, emotional intimidation and personal insults in private and public. This includes put-downs and demeaning, rude or cruel comments.

-Harassment based on race, religion, gender and physical attributes. Sexual contact, lewd suggestions, name-calling, teasing and overtly nasty personal jokes. Stealthy bullies often follow their put-downs or threats by laughing and saying &ldq ... Read More »

Assertiveness is a way of thinking and behaving that allows a person to stand up for his or her rights while respecting the rights of others. Nonassertive people may be passive or aggressive. Passive individuals are not committed to their own rights and are more likely to allow others to infringe on their rights than to stand up and speak out. On the other hand, aggressive persons are very likely to defend their own rights and work to achieve their own goals but are also likely to disregard the rights of others. Additionally, aggressive individuals insist that their feelings and needs take precedence over other people’s. They also tend to blame others for problems instead of offering solutions.

Assertive attitudes and behaviors are at the heart of effective advocacy. A person with an assertive attitude recognizes that each individual has rights. These rights include not only legal rights but also rights to individuality, to have and express personal preferences, feelings ... Read More »

Empathy is the ability to communicate and lead by understanding others’ thoughts, perspectives, and feelings.

Benefits of being of being able to empathize with others include higher self-esteem, more self-confidence, stronger personal relationships, and improved working conditions.

We usually empathize most easily with people we know and care about.

Empathy is built through and understanding of ones self, or self-awareness. The more individuals can understand their own thoughts, feelings, and emotions, the more they can understand someone else’s.

Empathy is a learned behavior. Like all skills, empathy can be taught, practiced and enhanced.

To be human implies the ability to communicate, understand and get along with other human beings. The failure to read another persons’ feelings can be a major problem in the human experience. With empathy, humans can possess a higher deg ... Read More »

Anger May Help Lawyers Win in Court, but Not at Home

by Steven Stosny (Published in the Legal Times, 5-19-97)

Among professionals, attorneys may be the most susceptible to anger and resentment problems that lead to diminished performance on the job, greatly increased risks to health and psychological well-being, and ultimately, to unhappiness at home.

Virtually all my non-court-ordered clients with anger problems are attorneys whose continual irritability has disrupted their lives, including a few judges who fear that their anger at attorneys will unfairly influence their rulings.

The high rates of divorce, domestic violence, and alcoholism among attorneys are indications of this susceptibility that may have more to do with habits of motivation and concentration than with the stress of the job.

The practice of law requires diligent attention to a great many details that are ... Read More »

Angry men really grieving underneath, says author

Scott McKeen. Edmonton Journal. Edmonton, Alta.: Jun 23, 2008. pg. A.10

This one's for men who seethe inwardly, men who rage outwardly and men whose reflexive anger protects them from hurt feelings.

In other words, it's for the vast majority of men in our society. Last Monday I wrote about the psychological void in most men caused by emotionally distant fathers.
Today's column is about how that void is oft filled with anger -- one of the few emotions men feel safe to express, along with laughter and lust.

Calvin Sandborn's book, Becoming the Kind Father, is today's inspiration. Sandborn is in town to give a workshop on the topic of male anger.

Lest you think his book and workshop is only for violent spouses, think again. Physical violence is the rare but shameful expression of a common darkness in the hearts of men.
And lest ... Read More »