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In This Issue:
As a way to help foster a culture of trust and respect at BWH, representatives from departments throughout the hospital provided their input on the values most important to the BWH community. After extensive discussions and through feedback from the Employee Opinion Survey conducted in June, those values have been transcribed into the hospital’s first Code of Professional Conduct.
“Developing this code of conduct allowed so many people from across the hospital to come together and restate our values and what’s important to us,” said Jo Shapiro, MD, chief of the Division of Otolaryngology and director of the Center for Professionalism and Peer Support. “The actual process of developing this code was community-building in and of itself, and we believe the code will help bring the entire BWH community even closer together.”
The code is also available at BWHPikeNotes.org under the Policies tab.
Code of Professional Conduct
Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Brigham and Women’s Physicians Organization are committed to providing the highest quality health care to patients and their families, to expanding the boundaries of medicine through research, and to educating the next generation of health care professionals. We are also committed to ensuring an ideal work environment for all employees, medical staff and trainees whereby our core values of excellence, compassion, respect and diversity are embraced by all. We believe in and uphold the principles of a fair and just culture and communicate these beliefs and values throughout the institution. We expect our employees, medical staff and trainees to:
Adhere to hospital policies and procedures.
Maintain a professional demeanor at all times and treat each person with courtesy, decency and respect. Use words and actions that are thoughtful, constructive, tolerant and compassionate.
Be collegial team members and recognize and support each member’s value in our interactions with them.
Be accountable for our behavior and avoid retaliation against those who report concerns.
Never engage in or tolerate inappropriate, disruptive or abusive behavior.
Never work while impaired by any substance or condition that compromises ability to function safely and competently.
Listen and respond to patients, patients’ families, and community members.
Respect and value diversity.
Respect our patients’ confidentiality and privacy.
Maintain the highest ethical standards and address conflicts of interest honestly and directly.
Be honest and forthright in representing information and ensure accurate attribution for all work.
Report near misses and errors and disclose and apologize to patients in order to improve patient care.
Make wise use of the hospital’s human, financial and environmental resources.
Support quality, safety and efficiency initiatives in order to enhance patient care.
Attempt to resolve differences in a spirit of cooperation and to create solutions that benefit all parties.