Conflict Resolution in Nursing - Essay Example

Conflict Resolution Conflict Resolution Introduction Nursing is a professional field based on a collaborative relationship with clients and colleagues. Conflict refers to an instance involving conflicting viewpoints on handling a situation or difference in perspectives. Conflict compromises healthy relationship among healthcare practitioners. Conflict is an unhealthy practice capable of undermining and compromising the nursing profession. It may involve a state of power struggle at the workplace. Efficiently managed conflict by the nurses leads to personal and organizational growth; this forms a positive aspect of conflict. On the other hand, if conflict lacks effective and timely management, it can prevent a nurses’ ability to ensure quality client care and escalate into violence and abuse (Pines et al., 2012). The essay discusses conflict as a hindrance management and one of the greatest challenges to quality health care provision. Conflict is an inherent component of nursing even though the professional code does not articulate for accepting abuse. Conflict can compromise professionalism among nurses if it escalates to great levels. Nurses must knowledge the variety of ways in which conflict can emanate among them and should be prepared to prevent and manage it in the workplace. Aspects of Conflict Conflicts have two contrasting aspects noted. It can be either positive or negative. Positive Conflict Positive conflicts are instances involving contrasting viewpoints that leave the parties involved with useful lessons and wiser than they were before. The first positive aspect of conflict is provision of an outlet that strengthens an intergroup unity. In the nursing profession, working involves agglomeration with other professionals to form a group. A conflict that creates togetherness and unity to such a group to work together in order to realize a particular goal is positive conflict. Group members discuss and manage their interests for improving their wellbeing. Secondly, conflict discourages premature decision making in a team, on the other hand, amongst members of a staff giving participants an opportunity to explore concern and interests at stake. Example of Positive Conflict Nurse A had a misunderstanding with her colleague, nurse B; their conflict got a lasting resolution through a series of negotiations that left both the parties happy and contented. After the resolution, the two parties settled and added more energy in order to realize the agreed upon goals. The result was an increase in the general output and productivity. Negative Conflict The other aspect of conflict is a negative one. Negative conflicts may have diverse harmful implications. Some of the adverse outcomes have far-reaching consequences on nurses’ professional development. The first negative conflict is its ability to distract individuals or groups from their main purposes. Effects of distractive conflicts can leave the participants with limited time and resources for primary activities. Distraction of health care providers such as nurses or physicians from their primary purpose in the hospital can lead to deaths and other adverse consequences. Conflicts also cause psychological and physical effects to parties involved on both long-term and short-term basis. Such effects can lead to deep trauma and reduced mechanisms of coping. Example of Negative Conflict An instance proof is a case of an administrator executing authoritarianism on a nurse. The nurse in effect absents herself from work. The overall impact is lowering the general output of the health care setup. Evidence about the Aspects of Conflict The consequences of bullying as a negative aspect of conflict include decline in well-being, lower commitment, and satisfaction for the nurses (Rodwell et al., 2013). The general productivity of the affected staff declines. In nursing, the decline has a significant effect on the patients. Personal Experience and Conflict Encounter Physicians whether male or female possess type A personalities and possibly, training in interpersonal skills. They have high intelligence quotients but lack emotional intelligence. Based on the noble nature of their profession, physicians had the consideration as being charismatic health practitioners who were ever right (Gaudine et al., 2011). Temper outbursts involving throwing of instructions and loud profanity directed at unfortunate person who happens to be near at hand. The actions are not acceptable in the current health work environment. The nurses being part of the health workplace stay vulnerable to a variety of associated conflicts. The type of workplace conflicts between colleagues often experienced involves nurses, the physicians, other staff, patients, or families. While serving in the nursing profession, I witnessed a conflict between a physician and a colleague nurse. In Canadian society, physicians commonly experience significant prestige, respect, and enjoy high authority in health care. They are amongst the highest educated professionals in Canada. On the other hand, nursing does not enjoy as much societal respect though it is a highly respected career too. Apparently, the physician had the tendency of bullying the nurse verbally. The verbal harassment escalated to a verbal abuse. According to Gaudine et al., 2011, nurses should embrace ethics while performing their duties and at the workplace. Reactions to misunderstandings, therefore, should not promote unethical actions. Verbal abuse is a form of mistreatment whether spoken or unspoken. It renders the victim personally or professionally attacked. It has proof that the workplace discrimination erodes a nurse confidence and compromises the nurse’s ability to encourage thematic affiliation with the clients lowering the health care performance in the end. The affected nurse threatened to resign, and this granted the issue a matter of criticality that demanded amicable and urgent management and resolution. Such conflicts can adversely affect the overall performance in the hospital hence the managements should encourage teams work and a professionalism respect at all levels (Rodwell et al., 2013). Possible reasons for the escalation of the conflict include the administrations’ favoritism to the physician than the nurses and other health care professionals (like the nurses) working under stressful conditions. In order to keep and to establish a quality and friendly working environment, health care practitioners should employ mechanisms to prevent such conflicts from escalating. A professional code of conduct should be practiced, not only in the infirmary but also as part of group practice policies and health care staff bylaws. Strict policy outlawing abuse of any kind should be imposed and ensuring that all professionals have entitlement to equal treatment. I engaged the physician and nurse in collaborative negotiation to ensure an end to their conflict. Their cohesiveness and joint problem-solving virtue made the negotiations simpler and faster. It takes only one difficult personality to shed a pall of dominance, negativity, or distraction that hinders collaborative efforts. Fortunately, with the knowledge as the negotiator I maintained high level of positivity and productivity, which aided counteraction of debilitating influences thereby restoring team productivity. The negotiations bore fruits as both the parties agreed to remain respectful to one another’s viewpoints or opinion. The following case example is a supportive evidence of the animosity and normalcy of the workplace conflicts that commonly occur between the health care practitioners. The case example shows how adverse the conflicts can go if not identified and managed at its early stages of development. A community hospital Emergency department was embroiled in a conflict that rumbled for years. Physicians lacked unity amongst themselves, nurses were resigning, administration distanced from staff, and the community expressed worry and anger over the reduction in emergency services. The conflict had no timely management hence intensified, and the problems expanded to entangle the entire hospital, board of trustees included. It compelled the administration to sort for an external conflict resolution company’s services, which helped in addressing the situation. The challenge that the experience teaches, is that every health care unit should have an internal conflict resolution department that will timely note and solve conflicts timely before its escalation. Conflict Resolution Processes Conflict resolution refers to the range of ways aimed at eliminating sources of conflict or settling disputes in hospital set up. It entails the following five styles incorporated in order to achieve a successful resolution, competitive, collaborative, accommodating, compromising, and the passive bit of avoiding completely (Kelly, 2006). Negotiation as a means of conflict resolution involves a neutral negotiator bringing two or more conflicting parties to a common understanding. In the hospital, negotiation will help the conflicting staff to appreciate the importance of team spirit thereby embracing togetherness as a resolution. In order, achieve a fruitful negotiation the negotiator must first understand the cause of the conflict and design possible models of doing away with it. In the case example above of conflict amongst members of the emergency team, I could first conduct an oral and confidential interview with the conflicting staff members in order to establish the possible and exact cause of the conflict. After establishing the cause of the conflict, I could conduct a research and formulate the best means of eliminating the causes of the conflict. The next move will be to organize a meeting involving both the conflicting parties and to allow them to address their problems independently. I will then give explain to them the merits and demerits of the conflict, majoring on the advantages and exposing how adverse the effects of the conflict can be. In an emergency scenario like in the case example, conflict can lead to loss of life when the staff resigns in an emergency. Lessons I have learnt about conflict resolution Conflict management and resolution has a merit of raising the level of productivity. Conflict is an inevitable part of the societies we live in hence understanding and appreciating its impacts is key to a successful nursing profession. Knowledge of predicting and understanding other people better is vital in enhancing conflict resolution. Understanding other people’s way of life and mode of thinking can help avoid the conflicts through avoidance. In addition, having the knowledge about other individual mental and emotional strengths can help predict how they may react to certain circumstances hence understanding how to coexist peacefully with them. The following case example about a nurse and doctor Moore is an evidence of the practicality of peaceful coexistence amongst health practitioners in hospital setting. The nurse has learnt Dr. Moore’s weakness and a possible root to a conflict. She approaches him to explain how embarrassed and upset she feels when he yells at her in front of staff. She goes on to comfort him that it had been a bad day for the staff and requests that he should express courtesy addressing his staff mates at the workplace or making official communication at a future date. The example shows how conflicts can be avoided thereby promoting team spirit and togetherness for more productive service delivery. Conclusion Nurses are victims to discrimination by other staffs in the health care setting; best nurses, however, remain positive in circumstances involving conflicts. The discriminations may lead to conflict, which compromises nursing profession. The conflict develops to an uncontrolled level as it may adversely affect the nursing profession hence knowledge of conflict prevention or management is basic and fundamental to a nurse anticipating success in his or her professional line. References Gaudine, A., LeFort, S., Lamb, M., & Thorne, L. (2011). Ethical Conflicts With Hospitals: The Perspective Of Nurses And Physicians. Nursing Ethics, 18(6), 756-766. doi:10.1177/0969733011401121 Kelly, J. (2006). An Overview of Conflict. Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing, 25(1), 22-28. Pines, E. W., Rauschhuber, M. L., Norgan, G. H., Cook, J. D., Canchola, L., Richardson, C., & Jones, M. (2012). Stress Resiliency, Psychological Empowerment, and Conflict Management Styles among Baccalaureate Nursing Students. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 68(7), 1482-1493. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2011.05875.x Rodwell, J., Demir, D., & Steane, P. (2013). Psychological and Organizational Impact of Bullying Over And Above Negative Affectivity: A Survey of Two Nursing Contexts. International Journal of Nursing Practice, 19(3), 241-248. doi:10.1111/ijn.12065 Read More