Introduction
The task of nurse leaders is to provide visionary leadership in order to foster a constructive work environment where disagreements are dealt with more effectively to maintain high standards of patient care (Angelo, 2019). The purpose of this essay is to discuss a situational conflict and how to deal with it while working as a nurse at the time, particularly the tactics I employed in resolution. In addition, the report discusses the final results and offers suggestions on how I could enhance my ability to manage the situation effectively. In the final section, the article presents some techniques that nurse leaders can implement to promote a culture of respect and safety in the workplace, with the ultimate goal of minimizing instances of conflict and bullying in the workplace.
Situation and Conflict
Nurse leaders are responsible for providing guidance to their teams during times of conflict, particularly those involving interpersonal dynamics. A barrier that prevents the performance of the team is ineffective conflict resolution (Kennison, 2019). A disagreement between two nurses or groups working in the same healthcare setting can lead to an interpersonal conflict characterized by considerable animosity and discontentment. The American Organization for Nurse Leadership (AONL, 2017) urges nursing managers and nursing leaders to develop skills that will enable them to resolve disagreements in the most productive way possible. Even while nurses face only moderate levels of interpersonal conflict, there is a rising worry that workplace interpersonal conflicts (also known as WIC) among other health care professionals have a negative impact on the quality of services provided to patients. The overall performance of nurses is impacted as a result of these conflicts as well.
Nurse leaders in a healthcare institution face a variety of scenarios that lead to interpersonal disagreements among themselves that necessitate resolving these conflicts (Shah, 2017). An example was in a scenario when a patient was admitted to the facility at night, two nurses on different shifts could not agree on who should take care of them. Organizational Standards and procedures influence how a nurse’s shift is changed, even though no two nurses operate similarly. After a long night’s work, the nurse in charge was ready to go home. While waiting for her turn to arrive, the arriving nurse made it clear that her colleague could not go until she had examined the patient’s condition.
On the other hand, the night nurse instructed her coworker to follow the proper process because she had arrived late. Their inability to reach an agreement led to an almost physical conflict. As a unit leader, I had no choice but to step in because I was only a few feet away from where the altercation occurred. In my opinion, the night nurse may have been tired after a long shift. Her annoyance was amplified further by her colleague’s unjustified delay in reporting.
Handling the Conflict and Strategies Used to Resolve the Issue
The failure of healthcare professionals to comply with organizational procedures and ethical standards in the workplace can lead to a culture of incivility in the industry. Incivility can be seen when people are impolite to one another and behave poorly toward coworkers. On the other hand, civility arises when individuals communicate their views or controversial concerns in an atmosphere characterized by genuine respect and mutual comprehension (Bagnasco et al., 2018). As a result, nurse leaders ought to promote civility by being present, taking the necessary time to do so, and being willing to engage others, particularly conflicting parties, in open dialogue to find a middle ground.
Nurse leaders must practice civility and focus on conflict areas rather than assigning blame in interpersonal conflict situations. At this point, I contacted the two nurses involved and requested an explanation. To resolve conflicts, I emphasized the importance of a civilized approach to problem-solving and the importance of finding common ground. Firstly, the conflict resolution technique I employed was a collaboration in which I urged the two nurses to keep their eyes on the prize of the team as a whole. Secondly, I underlined how important it is to compromise between the two different shifts. The night shift nurse, for example, should have compromised her position on the workload and performed the routine examination before handing it over to the next employee. The day shift nurse was responsible for ensuring that his coworker was not overworked by arriving on time.
Handling the Conflict Differently
Leaders cannot avoid conflicts and should use their core skills to better their overall approaches to managing conflicts. The circumstances were inappropriate, and had I been more knowledgeable, I would have approached the problem differently. According to AONL (2019), successful nurse leaders should acquire knowledge in three crucial areas. These areas include the management of business problems, the art of leading the people, and the leader inside. Communication and managing relationships between different personnel and groups are necessary for effective leadership.
Understanding my conflict management style would have helped me better handle this scenario, as I discovered the hard way. Compromise and cooperation are the methods of decision-making that I favor. As a result, good leadership is needed that takes into account the long-term consequences of long-running conflicts. Exploring the possible causes of the rift between the two nurses is also critical. As in every conflict situation, I discovered that the two nurses had some personal difficulties that aggravated the disagreement in this case. To better handle the work, I should have considered my preferred conflict management technique, the underlying variables, and the necessary organizational procedures in such circumstances.
Encouraging a Culture of Safety and Respect
The inability to effectively resolve conflicts in health care settings develops future behaviors that are not desirable among nurses. As a result, it is essential to have a culture that frowns upon acts of incivility such as bullying and promotes working together on solutions to problems while being willing to compromise and make accommodations (AONL, 2017). Nurse Managers must have the skills necessary to effectively lead others and inspire a team-based approach to solving problems within their organizations. Incivility arises when nurses fail to treat one another with respect and fail to understand one another’s perspectives.
Nurse Managers should never disregard disagreements and should make every effort to steer clear of them. For nursing to be effectively led, nurses must collaborate as a team, and nurse leaders must be team players. Pursuing a shared objective should drive the requirement for safety culture and eradicate negative behaviors like bullying to improve the quality of the outputs (AONL, 2017). It is not an option for nurse leaders in their units to avoid engaging other nurse leaders and other nurses in their work.
Conclusion
Workplace conflict can be resolved more efficiently, and patient care can be maintained at high standards by empowering nurse leaders to give visionary leadership in their organizations. With regard to conflicts that involve interpersonal dynamics, nurses are accountable for guiding their teams. Health care institutions face a range of situations when nurse leaders find themselves in conflict with each other, and these conflicts need to be resolved. When nurses are unable to successfully settle disagreements in their work environments, negative patterns of behavior begin to emerge. Nurse managers should never ignore disagreements and should do everything they can to avoid them at all costs.
References
American Organization for Nurse Leadership (AONL) (2017). AONL nurse leaders’ competencies. Web.
Angelo, E. (2019). Managing interpersonal conflict: Steps for success. Nursing Management (Springhouse), 50(6), 22-28.
Bagnasco, A., Aleo, G., Timmins, F., Catania, G., Zanini, M., Sasso, L. (2018). Educating our future generation—the role of nurse managers in encouraging civility. Journal of Nursing Management, 26(8), 899-901.
Kennison, M. (2019). Overcoming workplace interpersonal conflict. Web.
Shah, M. (2017). Impact of interpersonal conflict in health care setting on patient care; the role of nursing leadership style on resolving the conflict. Nurse Care Open Access Journal, 2(2), 44-46.