Road rage in the operation room

In a recent article at the Boston Globe, they report on a serious matter when it comes to doctors in operation rooms. In some hospitals, there are frequent outbursts from doctors that include fits of swearing, yelling and throwing objects in the emergency room. The Globe paralleled this behavior to road rage. According to a study done at Vanderbilt, 4 to 6% of doctors have frequent outbursts in the operation room. The study found that the more outbursts doctors have, the more likely the hospital is to be sued due to the fact that bad behavior in the surgery room is often connected to medical errors.

So some hospitals are stepping up and solving the problem. The Joint Commission is mandating that all hospitals and nursing homes adopt a zero tolerance policy by January 1 that will include rules and processes on: including codes of conduct, ways to encourage staff to report bad behavior, and a process for helping and, if necessary, disciplining offenders.