a group of female nurse bullies in the PICU began targeting this new
group. One morning I encountered a couple nurses literally yelling
about one of the international nurses. They complained that on the
previous evening she had hummed to a baby who was in a low-
stimulation environment. Ironically, they told me this story very loudly
and angrily in the same room with the same baby present.
When an issue with an uncivil employee reaches a crisis level,
there can often be a panic to invoke a zero-tolerance policy in
order to correct it. However, institutional confusion about such
policies is rampant. I was once consulting with an organization and
someone in their education department told me, "We don't like to
say, 'zero tolerance,' because that means that the first time you do
it, you're out."
That's not how I see zero tolerance. To me, zero tolerance means
that I am going to mentor you, I am going to cheer you on and lift
you up, do the best that I can to help you live the values that our
organization stands for. If you make a conscious effort not to align
with that — you do things that lead to patient harm, staff burnout
and the inability to retain employees — that's when zero tolerance
leads to disciplinary action and termination.
7. Mandate counseling
If an employee is still exhibiting negative behavior, it may be time to
get them outside help. Depending on the person's issues, they may
need general therapy, anger-management classes or
inpatient/outpatient substance-abuse treatment. Most facilities have
employee assistance programs where they can get the help they
need at no cost. The exact policy should be outlined in your code of
conduct.
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