The Joint Commission has altered the term “disruptive behavior” in the accreditor’s standards in response to feedback from the healthcare field indicating that the term is both ambiguous and in many ways inaccurate for the purposes of its use in the standards.

The term appears in two Elements of Performance (EPs 4 and 5 under Leadership standard LD.03.01.01). Such behavior is now defined as “behavior or behaviors that undermine a culture of safety.”

For more on the reasons behind the change and how it will appear in the standards, visit The Joint Commission’s website. The change will appear in the next update to the standards manual, which will publish in the spring of 2012.

Click here to read more on the AHAP blog.