Legal Update
LU
3 0 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 7
Bullying can do significant damage to
a workplace's culture and its bottom
line.
• A June 2016 Joint Commission
(TJC) advisory noted the overall cost of
replacing a nurse who leaves due to
bullying ($27,000 to $103,000) is cou-
pled with the additional "cost" involved
when patients and their families wit-
ness bullying. It's estimated that 64% of bullying victims leave their
workplaces and that the overall cost of workplace bullying may be
as high as $4 billion a year.
• In 2014, an Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) sur-
vey of nearly 5,000 healthcare professionals revealed some star-
tling results: 68% were subjected to condescending language or
demeaning comments; 46% experienced shaming, humiliation
and malicious rumors; 24% reported being insulted or slighted
based on race, religion or appearance; and 18% reported witness-
ing a healthcare professional throw an instrument, chart or other
object at work. Perhaps most disturbing, 7% of respondents
reported they had been physically abused at their workplace.
• In 2008, TJC issued a Sentinel Event Alert in which "disruptive
behavior" was linked to medication errors, treatment delays and
the reluctance or failure to pursue safety precautions. Also noted
by TJC, as part of the Wrong Site Surgery Project, staff who are
"not empowered to speak up" is a cause of wrong-site surgeries.
Angela T. Burnette, Esq., Rebecca Kennedy, Esq., and Genta Iwasaki
VICTIMIZED
Workplace Bullying's Deep, Bruising Impact
