Disruptive Behavior In Nursing

There are several issues in nursing that could arise and affect an otherwise healthy work environment. A major issue that can occur is disruptive behavior from staff members. Disruptive behavior is something that nurse managers and leaders have to deal with and sometimes resolve. This paper will explain why this is an important issue for nurse managers and leaders. It also will examine ineffective and effective ways to handle the situation. Lastly, barriers to effectively deal with disruptive behavior will be reviewed.
Disruptive behavior within staff members in the work environment can harm the work environment of the hospital or the particular unit. Disruptive behavior is defined by Addison & Luparell (2014) as “ any behavior that undermines …show more content…
Confronting the employee as soon as possible after the incident can help manage it (Longo, 2010). Respect and privacy must be maintained and not sounding defensive are effective ways to talk to an employee when addressing an employee about disruptive behavior. Longo (2010) described how a mutual understanding needs to be met and that feelings need to be heard to the employee causing the problem from the employee that was effected by it. Another effective way that can be done to manage disruptive behavior is using a strategy called “rounding for outcomes” (Longo, 2010). This is when managers “do daily rounds on their unit to determine employee’s needs and concerns” (Longo, 2010, p. 14). This rounding can be done to assess whether there is presence of disruptive behavior and therefore preventing it from occurring by being proactive with it. Nurse leaders need to enforce the policies of the organization and if disruptive behavior has occurred action needs to be taken. Longo (2010) stated that victims report disruptive behavior but feel like nothing is being done to address and resolve the situation. One strategy that the nurse manger can do to help the victim feel that their voice was heard is to support the employee and remind them that the situation is being addressed (Longo, 2010). Previously mentioned was how nurse managers are limited with time to make a presence on the unit due to administrative work, when nurse mangers can create time to be on the unit it can help support the staff on the unit (Russo, 2009). “Being available and present for coaching and collaborating, and treating each other with esteem by valuing the unique contribution of each and every employee” (Russo, 2009, p.