By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    bowl of vegetable salad
    Raw Foods: benefits and harms
    November 9, 2021
    pros and cons of the keto diet
    Read This Before You Follow the Keto Diet
    May 18, 2022
    spinal cord injuries
    4 Potential Causes of Spinal Cord Injuries (and How to Seek Compensation)
    May 25, 2022
    Latest News
    5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
    July 31, 2025
    Why Custom Telemedicine Apps Outperform Off‑the‑Shelf Solutions
    July 20, 2025
    How Probate Planning Shapes the Future of Your Estate and Family Care
    July 17, 2025
    Beyond Nutrition: Everyday Foods That Support Whole-Body Health
    June 15, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    Effective Healthcare Requires a Social Approach
    June 15, 2015
    CCBHCs
    2016 Excellence in Behavioral Health Program Design
    February 23, 2016
    conducting Clinical Trial
    5 Tips for Conducting a Clinical Trial
    April 21, 2024
    Latest News
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
    How Health Choices and Legal Actions Intersect After an Injury
    July 17, 2025
    How communities and healthcare providers can address slip and fall injuries with legal awareness
    July 17, 2025
    Let Your Lawyer Handle the Work Before You Pay Medical Costs
    July 6, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Culture of Disrespect in Medicine Affects Patient Safety
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Business > Hospital Administration > Culture of Disrespect in Medicine Affects Patient Safety
Hospital AdministrationMedical EducationPolicy & Law

Culture of Disrespect in Medicine Affects Patient Safety

Tracy Granzyk
Tracy Granzyk
Share
3 Min Read
bullying healthcare
SHARE

bullying healthcareLucian Leape’s words from the 2009 Telluride Patient Safety Educational Roundtable and Student/Resident Summer Camps tend to come back to me at random times. Not only was it amazing to sit in small group breakout sessions with him, discussing patient safety topics like a culture of disrespect in medicine, but to be in the classroom as he taught was something I’ll never forget.

bullying healthcareLucian Leape’s words from the 2009 Telluride Patient Safety Educational Roundtable and Student/Resident Summer Camps tend to come back to me at random times. Not only was it amazing to sit in small group breakout sessions with him, discussing patient safety topics like a culture of disrespect in medicine, but to be in the classroom as he taught was something I’ll never forget.

Recently, his words on bullying in the healthcare workplace rang true and clear. Danielle Ofri’s July 18 NYTimes Well blog piece, In a Culture of Disrespect Patients Lose Out, the topic was highlighted yet again. Unfortunately, this healthcare challenge remains alive and well. (See also ETY posts What Doctors Feel, and Bullying: Just Say No).

What struck me about Ofri’s NYTimes piece wasn’t that disrespect in the medical workplace was being linked directly to patient safety. That is just common sense. If your workforce is being bullied or treated poorly, how will those same individuals feel when going to do their job — which in this case, is care for patients? It was the following that was a reminder of the responsibility we all have to stop disrespectful behavior:

More Read

five star quality rating
Hospital Selfies and Stars: Patients Look Deeper Than HCAHPS
Why Not the Best? Or, at Least, Why Not the Same?
Physicians Oppose Increased Certification Requirements
Healthcare 2014: A Retrospective
AAMC: Medical College Admissions Testing to Be Overhauled

…This shift in perspective was a shock to the system. When we tolerate a culture of disrespect, we aren’t just being insensitive, or obtuse, or lazy, or enabling. We’re in fact violating the first commandment of medicine. How can we stand idly by when our casual acceptance of disrespect is causing the same harm to our patients as medication errors…

How can we continue to stand idly by? Bullies need to be called out. Period.

As we embark on yet another wonderful week of “Educating the Young” and move Telluride east to the Georgetown University campus for the first time, I hope that those of us able to stand up for students, residents and those we are charged with leading, continue to do just that — to stand up, to not stand idly by, and as Ofri says, view respect for one another…as common decency, something we should do because it’s simply the right thing to do.

For more information, see Leape et al in Academic Medicine July 2012.

(Chief resident bully / shutterstock)

Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
Health
July 31, 2025
holistic dental
Holistic Dentist Services Are Natural and Safe
Dental health Specialties
July 28, 2025
botox certification
Help Improve People’s Skin Health Via Botox Certification
Skin Specialties
July 22, 2025
Telemedicine Apps
Why Custom Telemedicine Apps Outperform Off‑the‑Shelf Solutions
Health
July 20, 2025

You Might also Like

Obamacare: Policy Changes – Healthcare Reform – The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

July 13, 2012

California Medical Board Under Fire For Failure to Discipline Doctors

August 11, 2011
icd-10 preparation
BusinessFinanceHospital Administration

ICD-10: Where Do We Go From Here?

February 2, 2015

What to do About HealthCare Spending: Eat-Your-Spinach Budget Reforms

December 15, 2011
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?