Disruptive Behavior in OR Continues to Occur; Educate Staff to Curb Bystander Apathy

​Operating room (OR) team members have a responsibility to intervene and support a colleague who is the target of bullying behavior by another team member behind the closed doors of the OR, says an article on bystander intervention in the September 2014 Surgical Technologist. Despite Joint Commission standards requiring healthcare facilities to address disruptive behavior and facilities tackling such behavior in their policies and procedures, "aggressive and disruptive bullying types of behavior continue to occur in the OR," the authors write. Disruptive behavior can contribute to medical errors, poor patient satisfaction as a result of errors, lost time and productivity of staff, and staff turnover.