Description of Toolkit

Bullying and direct violence create barriers to safe patient care and are planted within the health care experience. These and other disruptive behaviors undermine team effectiveness, contribute to unhealthy work environments, and put patients at risk.

Your Professional Conduct Toolkit is designed to help health care teams eliminate these behaviors and adopt the professional conduct that is a hallmark of high-performing teams. The toolkit consists of four modules:

• Professional Conduct, Teamwork, and Patient Safety
• Responding to Behaviors that Undermine Safe Patient Care
• Supporting Engagement: The Role of Leaders and System Responses
• High-Conflict Personalities, Mental Health Issues, and Safety Considerations

Description of Tools

Connect & Correct: Tips for Engaging

This tip sheet outlines the steps for using the PEARLA technique to connect with team members and the DESC script to correct behavior.

Cultivating Conflict Competence: A Checklist for Team Leaders

This checklist will help you assess your team for 16 factors that contribute to conflict competence.

Tips and Tools for Connecting: PEARLA

This tool provides additional information on using the PEARLA technique, including how to remain focused in a difficult situation and how to create empathy with a team member who is behaving badly.

TeamSTEPPS Action Planning Guide

This guide can help you implement professional conduct and other TeamSTEPPS initiatives within your health care facility.

Professional Conduct Pocket Guide

Also available to military treatment facilities is the Professional Conduct Pocket Guide which supplements the material provided in the toolkit. The pocket guide is meant to be kept handy:

• For quick reference and problem resolution
• To take advantage of teachable moments
• As a reminder to model desired behaviors

Contact the Patient Safety Program team to request toolkit