Although the main task of nurses and doctors is to treat people, they also need advanced communication skills. Medicine is always about working with people, so it is vital to find the right approach to patients. However, this is not easy, since each person and each situation are unique. Unfortunately, it is a reason for conflicts that sometimes arise between patients and personnel of medical institutions. Forester (2017) states that “community building and peace making in the face of conflict involve surprising and sometimes quite simple practical moves” (p. 3). It means that some conflicts can be much less stressful and complicated than they usually are. The purpose of this paper is to discuss one of the conflicts that occurred at Hospital Setting Miami and suggest ways to resolve it correctly.
Details of the conflict
This conflict occurred during one of the daily rounds in the gastroenterological department. The nurse was supposed to give one of the patients certain pills, but because of the heavy load, she was 45 minutes late. This did not cause any difficulties since the patient could take medicine later without any consequences. Despite this, he was very unhappy that he had to wait for so long because usually, the nurse came in time. However, instead of a polite explanation of the situation, the nurse could not stay calm and rudely reacted to criticism. She argued with the patient and left his ward, leaving the conflict unresolved, and the patient unhappy.
Stages of the conflict
At the latent conflict stage, the problem itself does not arise yet; however, the conditions that cause the conflict are formed. In the considered situation, the main problem lies mainly in the structure of the organization. For example, if there were more nurses in the hospital, or if the managers reviewed the number of patients accepted, then the time for each could be allocated better. It is likely that the nurse is also partly to blame for the situation since she incorrectly scheduled her own time to work with patients. Thus, these reasons have become the basis for the development of a conflict situation. Wolfe (2019) notes that “there is a need to assure satisfactory negotiating mechanisms” (p. 87). It would be helpful to any hospital because it would be an explicit instruction for conflicts.
The second stage, perceive conflict, is characterized by such a development of events in which the conflict becomes apparent to its participants. This may be evidenced by the creation of a tense atmosphere or a sense of psychological discomfort. In the described case, this stage begins when the nurse does not arrive on time. Even though she is not in direct contact with the patient, they both can feel tension: he is waiting, and she is late. This can adversely affect both the patient’s well-being and the nurse’s performance.
The third stage, felt conflict, is characterized by the apparent intentions of the parties to resolve the dispute. This stage occurs when the patient and the nurse finally meet. They both understand that the state of things leads to conflict, and are ready to participate in it. Moreover, the patient is clearly inclined to argue: he chooses a confrontation strategy. He wants to satisfy his interests, regardless of how it will affect the other side. He is sure that this would be fair since he considers himself an injured party and wants to defend his rights.
The fourth stage of the conflict, manifest conflict, occurs when the intentions of its participants are finally embodied in specific forms of behavior. This behavior of the parties of the conflict can take both controlled and non-controlled forms. In the considered situation, the argument was carried out aggressively and was not truly resolved. It took an uncontrolled form since neither the patient nor the nurse was able to restrain their emotions and started shouting at each other. However, in this way, they did not find an agreement, so the result of the collision turned out to be negative. The conflict situation negatively affected the state of the nurse, who must continue to work with other people, and the patient’s attitude to the hospital as a whole.
Conflict resolution
The described situation is not simple because, undoubtedly, communication in such stressful situations does not always go adequately. Even the most intelligent and educated people can sometimes shout at others because they do not withstand pressure. However, to resolve this situation, there could be several strategies that would make the conflict less unpleasant. According to McCorkle and Reese (2017), “even though we cannot change others, we are not powerless in the face of conflict” (p. 4). If a person is responsible enough, then he or she will be able to resolve a problem correctly.
First, the responsibility for the case lies mostly with the nurse. If she could control her behavior a little better, she would respond to a person more politely. There is no doubt that she would manage to explain the situation clearly, and her opponent would stop being angry. Second, it would be helpful to allow the patient to talk with a senior nurse. This would make him feel significant; besides, she could offer him other ways out of the situation since she has more authority. For instance, she might suggest him to limit contacts with this particular nurse or give pills so that he takes them on his own. In any case, “the question is not if managers deal with conflict but how managers deal with conflict (Raines, 2019, p. 3). Only a professional can invent a suitable approach for any situation and get a positive result.
However, this situation could be avoided even at a latent stage before the nurse realized that she was not in time for the patient. This is where delegation would be a correct and useful approach. Of course, this largely depends on the structure of the organization, but the tasks of this nurse could be performed by someone else. She could ask her colleagues about it, or the senior nurse, looking at the general situation in the hospital, could differentiate the responsibilities. Thus, the schedule of rounds would not be violated, and the conflict would not be possible at all.
Summary
There are many options for resolving various conflict situations. To use them, it is necessary to think soberly and sometimes even predict possible conflicts. In addition, it is crucial to monitor such situations that have already occurred in the past to find patterns and avoid them in the future. In any case, the main thing is to remember that the patient must be treated with care and respect since he or she is in a difficult situation. Even though sometimes patients may behave incorrectly, it is worthwhile to provide any available help in solving their issues.
References
Forester, J. F. (2017). Planning in the face of conflict: the surprising possibilities of facilitative leadership. Routledge.
McCorkle, S., & Reese, M. (2017). Personal conflict management: theory and practice. Routledge.
Raines, S.S. (2019). Conflict management for managers: resolving workplace, client, and policy disputes. Rowman & Littlefield.
Wolfe, S. (2019). Organization of health workers and labor conflict. Routledge.