Introduction
There is no doubt that those specialists working in the spheres that involve constant communication with clients should pay increased attention to conflicts that may occur at work. Speaking about the consequences of conflicts at work and the quality of customer service, it is especially important to focus on the sphere of healthcare as divisions between healthcare specialists can lead to inappropriate patient care. The given paper is devoted to one of the conflicts that were observed during my prelicensure practice in Hospital Setting Miami. In the paper, the following questions are addressed: the situation, escalation of the conflict, possible strategies that can be used in such a situation, and personal reflection on the topic.
The Conflict
The particular conflict that needs to be described in the given paper involves two participants – nurse leader and one of the new employees working in the hospital. The conflict started about three weeks ago and it can be said that the relationships between two participants became extremely strained due to a few conflicts that took place.
To begin with, the new nursing assistant started working at the hospital about four weeks ago. As for my opinion on her personality traits, I can say that she could be regarded as a calm woman possessing a range of qualities making her emotionally intelligent; she appeared to be very reserved and she tried to do anything to avoid demonstrating her bad mood. Speaking about the nurse leader who had conflicts with her, it is necessary to note that she is quite polite and her comments on other nurses’ mistakes are always reasonable and feasible. Therefore, I was very surprised when these people started having conflicts at work.
One day, the nursing assistant was supposed to visit one of the patients to assess his condition of health and ask him about his mental condition as well (it was a person who was in a difficult situation). In order to perform this task, she came to the given patient and started asking questions concerning his health, mood, and other things she believed to be relevant to the case. It was obvious that the client was thinking about his problems and this is why he was giving impatient replies. Due to that, the nursing assistant lost her patience and started talking to him in the same manner, she even insulted him.
The nursing leader heard the conversation between the nursing assistant and the patient because she was working in an adjacent cabinet. She came in to understand the situation but then the conflict between her and the nursing assistant started because the latter was unable to receive this constructive criticism, she was trying to prove that she was right and it was the patient who destroyed the outer moat. After that, there was a series of conflicts between these two specialists and it seemed that they both wanted this conflict to continue. At the same time, understanding that conflicts with the nursing leader can be dangerous for her career, the nursing assistant tries to express her negative attitude to the former without having overt conflicts.
In order to be able to develop an effective strategy allowing to resolve the given conflict, it is necessary to define its type. To begin with, considering the fact that it is impossible to regard the participants of the given conflict as equal when it comes to the position within the company, the situation cannot be defined as a leadership conflict. Also, despite the fact that the discussed specialists have different opinions on appropriate and inappropriate practices used during the work, they do not have a value conflict as they belong to the same culture and exercise the same religion. Considering the details of the conflict and the fact that both parties still demonstrate their negative emotions in a certain way, it can be supposed that this situation is an example of a personality conflict (Qadir & Khan, 2016).
Stages of the Conflict
It is impossible to understand the conflict and propose the best strategies to resolve it without analyzing its particular stages. In general, researchers working in the field of conflicts and conflict management prefer to rely on the most common model that includes four important stages of the conflict. Considering that the new specialist was fulfilling her tasks, delegation does not belong to the number of causes of the conflict.
The first stage of conflict is called a latent conflict. Speaking about the latter, it is necessary to say that this notion is used in order to denote the period when two or more people or even the entire groups are already in conflict but they do not realize this fact (McDermott, 2016). When a conflict is latent, the parties to a conflict usually suppose that they are just expressing their opinions; therefore, during this stage, people usually fail to analyze the situation and predict its possible consequences.
In general, a latent conflict exists due to significant differences between individuals or groups that may be presented by opposite values or positions in the professional hierarchy. It often happens that the latter is strong enough to cause serious conflicts in the future but if there are no prerequisites to open conflict, it remains latent. In reference to the discussed case, it is quite difficult to single out the events related to a latent conflict because everything happened really fast. The two specialists did not have quarrels or misunderstanding before – it seems that the nursing assistant started demonstrating unusual behavior due to her nerve strain.
The next stage is called a perceived conflict. This stage differs from the first one due to the fact that parties to a conflict begin to understand that there is a certain divergence of opinions that may lead to open conflict. In connection with the discussed case of the nurse leader and the nursing assistant working at the hospital, this stage of the conflict began when the former entered the hospital room in order to check if the latter was doing her job according to the plan. When they started the conversation, it was already clear that it could lead to a serious conflict because the nursing assistant sounded aggressive.
After that, there are two stages called felt and manifested conflict and, when it comes to the given case, it may be quite difficult to draw a line between them as everything happened too fast. There was a felt conflict when the nursing assistant demonstrated her unwillingness to apologize to the patient. When the nurse leader replied in the same manner, it became clear that the conflict was inevitable and this is how the manifested conflict started.
Conflict Resolution
At the moment, the described conflict remains manifested and it is necessary to use special strategies to resolve it. To begin with, considering that it was the nursing assistant who started the conflict, it is extremely important to make her understand the mistake. To do that, it is necessary to lead a discussion devoted to her professional duties and corporate culture (Krautscheid, L., Luebbering, & Krautscheid, B., 2017). Also, such a strategy as forcing may be used – the nursing assistant must be warned about possible consequences of inappropriate behavior (Smith & Knudson, 2016).
In order to identify the best strategy and resolve the conflict, it is necessary to collaborate with the nurse leader – considering that she acts as one of the parties to the conflict, I would ask some of the managers for help. Having chosen additional education as the strategy, I can use recommendations of the nurse leader or the manager related to the points that need to be explained to the nursing assistant. After that, a special meeting can be organized. The reason why education and discussion can be seen as the best strategy in the given case is strictly interconnected with the fact that it was the first time when this employee was acting contrary to the ethical principles and this is why there is a need for a thorough investigation helping to identify the causes (Din, Bibi, Karim, & Shah Khan, 2014).
Conclusion
In the end, the conflict that I observed helped me to better understand the importance of ethical norms for those working in the field of healthcare and to define the strategies that can be used to resolve personality conflicts at work. Also, this experience can help me to deal with conflicts more effectively in the future because I will be able to identify the stage of conflict and choose the strategy based on this information.
References
Din, S., Bibi, Z., Karim, J., & Shah Khan, M. (2014). Don’t blame conflict for the adverse consequences: A study in conflict management. Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences (PJSS), 34(1), 243-254.
Krautscheid, L. C., Luebbering, C. M., & Krautscheid, B. A. (2017). Conflict-handling styles demonstrated by nursing students in response to microethical dilemmas. Nursing Education Perspectives, 38(3), 143-145.
McDermott, J. C. (2016). Work-related conflict revolved via mediation. International Journal of Business Administration, 7(4), 55.
Qadir, A., & Khan, M. M. (2016). Linking personality and emotional labor: The mediating role of relationship conflict and conflict management styles. Pakistan Journal of Commerce and Social Sciences, 10(2), 212-238.
Smith, G. C., & Knudson, T. K. (2016). Student nurses’ unethical behavior, social media, and year of birth. Nursing Ethics, 23(8), 910-918.