Dental Staff Behavior That Should Not Be Tolerated

Your dental office, just like any workplace, needs to have guidelines in place for the conduct of your employees. The purpose of these guidelines is to ensure that each member of your staff is performing their responsibilities and behaving properly in front of patients and other employees.

It’s a good idea to have a dental employee handbook given to each member of your staff, which outlines each of the guidelines. With this handbook in place, you greatly decrease the risk of conflict and misunderstandings in your dental practice. You should also outline the consequences for not following the guidelines and enforce these consequences consistently.

Disciplinary Action

Violation of the guidelines in your employee handbook should come with disciplinary action. These actions should include a verbal warning, a written warning, a one-on-one meeting with the employee, and lastly, termination.

While we know that it’s impossible to identify every single violation that could possibly happen, there are a few important violations that should be included in your handbook. These actions are below:

• Office gossip or bullying
• Inability to establish a friendly relationship with patients or other employees
• Disclosing confidential patient records or information
• Conducting personal business on work time
• Frequently coming in late or calling in sick
• Negligence in regard to proper patient care
• Use of illegal drugs or alcohol
• Theft from the office
• Failure to report a reportable situation

For more information on dental practice management, how to keep your office running smoothly and conflict-free, or if you have any dental marketing needs, please contact Pro Dental Designs.