Ep. 163: How to Address Unprofessional Behavior in Healthcare Before It Impacts Patient Safety

What if one of the most powerful tools for protecting patient safety is a kind, two-minute conversation that most healthcare teams rarely use?

In this episode, Dr. Alice Krumm, Director of Partner Engagement & Faculty at Vanderbilt Health CPPA, discusses how professionalism shapes quality, safety, and how healthcare teams treat one another. She explains that professionalism means living up to shared standards, organizational values, and a common goal, and asks one simple question: Are my actions making it harder or easier for my team to care for a patient? Alice walks through Vanderbilt's peer messenger program, where trained colleagues share a single, non-judgmental observation in a brief "cup of coffee" conversation. She also shares how peer messengers and in-the-moment feedback work together, and how gardening helps her decompress.

Tune in to learn how to give feedback that preserves dignity, builds psychological safety, and helps colleagues self-regulate before behavior affects patients!

About Dr. Alice Krumm:

Alice M. Krumm, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, CNOR(E), is Director of Partner Engagement & Faculty at Vanderbilt Health CPPA and Adjunct Faculty at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. She has more than 35 years of nursing and leadership experience. As a nursing administrator at Ohio State University's James Cancer Hospital, she oversaw clinical operations for perioperative services and surgical inpatient units. In her most recent prior role at Vanderbilt, she was the Associate Vice President of Perioperative Services, leading clinical operations for Vanderbilt's 55 adult ORs, HR, PACU, pre-anesthesia clinics, and surgical scheduling and billing.

She is a Certified Executive in Nursing Practice and Certified in Perioperative Nursing, and is a member of the American Organization of Nurse Leaders (AONL), the American Organization of Perioperative Nurses (AORN), and Sigma Theta Tau. She also served as the only nurse on the ACGME's CLER Operative and Procedural Sub-Protocol Advisory Group. Alli leverages communication, transparency, and cross-functional consensus to drive organizational change and results.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode:

• Professionalism is defined by shared standards, organizational values, and a common goal, not just technical competence.

• Every team member contributes to patient care by making their team's ability to deliver care easier or harder, regardless of their role.

• Unprofessional behavior is often unintentional and can stem from stress, improvised teamwork, and individual blind spots. Constructive feedback helps people recognize and regulate their behavior.

• Vanderbilt's peer messenger program relies on trained, respected, and confidential colleagues who communicate a single observation without judging intent or prescribing solutions.

• Peer messengers complement direct, real-time feedback by providing an alternative channel when speaking up feels difficult.

• Aligning feedback with shared core values, which account for 25% of performance evaluations at Vanderbilt, helps create a more consistent and equitable feedback process.

Links & Resources:

• Connect with and follow Dr. Alice Krumm on LinkedIn.

• Follow Vanderbilt CPPA on LinkedIn and visit their website!

• Check out the 33 Scripts Guide to Address Disruptive Behaviour here!

• Buy Renee Thompson’s book Enough! Eradicating Bullying & Incivility here!

• Grab a copy of Renee Thompson’s book Do No Harm Applies to Nurses Too! here.

• Learn more about the Eradicating Bullying & Incivility eLearning Program here!

Have a question for Renee?

Email us at wecare@healthyworkforceinstitute.com to have your leadership question featured in an upcoming Q&A episode!

Disclosure: The host may be compensated for linking to other sites or for sales of products we link to. As an Amazon Associate, Coffee Break earns from qualifying purchases.

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