Standards of Behavior
As associates, we are responsible for creating a culture of civility, mutual respect, and shared ownership in our mission to move beyond medicine and create the healthiest generations of children. We do this through our shared language and expectations of one another and through our Standards of Behavior.
The Standards of Behavior are our daily toolkit for interaction providing ways to work together, disagree with each other, and provide care to our patients and families in a respectful, productive and inclusive way.
What are the Standards of Behavior?
Be In the Moment
- Remain fully engaged on your current task or interaction.
- Focus awareness on the present moment while acknowledging and accepting your own thoughts and feelings.
- Remain open-minded, respond and adapt to change.
- Turn off “auto-pilot” by pausing and choosing the appropriate response in situations.
Be Authentic & Humanistic
- Acknowledge the contributions of others.
- Provide positive and redirecting feedback in a respectful manner.
- Recognize and appreciate diversity.
- Demonstrate honesty and integrity.
- Speak in a manner that maintains or enhances the self-esteem of others.
Volunteer Discretionary Effort Constantly
- Understand you are a change agent.
- Display initiative in all work activities.
- Look for opportunities for improvement.
- Anticipate the needs of others, offer services before they are expected.
- Routinely suggest creative ideas and solutions.
Model High Performance — Desired Behaviors that Drive Desired Results
- Recognize that your individual behavior impacts those around you.
- Be collaborative and supportive by working in a cooperative manner.
- Demonstrate individual leadership, ingenuity and initiative.
- Remember that to our patients and families, you are Nemours Children’s Health.
Respect & Leverage Separate Realities
- Be aware and respectful of others and treat them with compassion, empathy and consideration.
- Understand there is no “right” or “wrong” reality – different experiences simply create different perceptions.
- Recognize that you can each learn from another’s viewpoint.
- Compensate for potential “blind spots” by soliciting diverse opinions and ideas.
Be Curious vs. Judgmental
- Be accountable by looking at your own actions first.
- Remember the only person’s behavior you can change is your own.
- Know, accept and understand the responsibilities of your job.
- Accept responsibility for continued self-improvement.
- Behave with the mindset that “I own Nemours Children’s Health” including its successes and opportunities for improvement.
Have Courageous Conversations
- Communicate with others in an open and appropriate manner.
- Ask questions to better understand the thoughts, beliefs and behaviors of others.
- Practice active listening to ensure understanding.
- Create a safe environment for people to say what they think and feel.
- Encourage analysis, inquiry, collaboration and innovation across disciplines.
Provide Timely, Clear & Specific Performance Expectations & Feedback
- Provide positive reinforcement to peers, direct reports and supervisors for behaviors that should be continued.
- When necessary, provide redirecting feedback to peers, direct reports and supervisors in an authentic and humanistic way.
- Give four times more positive feedback than re-directing feedback (4:1)
- Recognize separate realities when providing performance expectations.
Teach, Coach & Mentor — Spend at Least Half of Your Time Developing Others
- Serve as a role model for high performance to those around you.
- Strive to learn through educational and experiential opportunities and share your knowledge with others.
Standards of Behavior