Disruptive clinician behavior has a negative effect on teamwork that could contribute to patient harm. Examining the literature on disruptive behavior in the operating room, this review identified intrapersonal, organizational, and interpersonal factors that facilitate disruptive conduct and discussed its impact on teams, clinicians, patients, and organizations. The authors recommend strategies to address disruptive behaviors among clinicians such as documenting standards of behavior.

The authors describe the successful implementation of an AHRQ-supported voluntary reporting system. They conclude that classification of causal factors promotes patient safety improvement.