Nursing care involves nurses working around the clock to care for patients. Some nurses are responsible for providing care at daytime while others provide care at night. A conflict occurred when a new nurse was working the day shift. During the night shift, the nurses noticed that the nurse committed several errors in the daytime and left the workspace disorganized. The nurses noted that the daytime nurse's errors and disorganization slowed down work and increased the risk of wrong drug administration. This situation posed an ethical challenge where there the principle of non-maleficence may be breached (Vanlaere & Gastmans, 2007). The day shift nurse may commit or predispose other nurses to committing errors that could harm patients. The night shift nurses were disgruntled and felt that the day shift nurse needed more training to better her nursing skills.
Conflicts such as this can be resolved in five ways; avoiding, accommodating, compromising, competing, and collaborating (Huan & Yazdanifard, 2012) . Using the accommodating style of conflict resolution in this situation would mean that one of the nurses would have to give in without necessarily addressing the issue. The night shift nurse may be forced to accommodate the other nurse, without the day shift nurse changing her work ethics. The avoiding style of conflict management necessitates the night shift nurses to ignore the mistakes done during the day shift. Avoidance means that the day shift nurse continues to commit the mistakes she has committed, straining other nurses, and increasing risk of nursing errors.
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The competing style of conflict resolution means that the nurses each take a firm stance, with each nurse believing they are right. Using this style, the issue at hand may not be resolved since the day shift nurse does not welcome correction. Additionally, tension could prevail in the workplace, creating a non-conducive working environment. Another way of dealing with the conflict is compromising, where all parties find a solution that pleases everyone. The problem with this method is that the day shift nurse may continue her unprofessional and unethical way of working. The last and most appropriate way of solving the conflict would be collaborating. This method seeks to find a middle ground where all parties win (Kabanoff, 1989). This method would entail the nurses working together to teach the day shift nurse the right way of carrying out her duties. This would involve a shadowing experience for the nurse and better supervision to ensure that she works well with colleagues to reduce the chances of medical errors. Using collaboration, a conducive workplace with open communication channels is created.
References
Huan, L. J., & Yazdanifard, R. (2012). The difference of conflict management styles and conflict resolution in workplace. Business & Entrepreneurship Journal , 1 (1), 141-155.
Kabanoff, B. (1989). Conflict Management Styles: Why is Compromise so Favourably Viewed?. Australian Journal of Management , 14 (1), 29-48.
Vanlaere, L., & Gastmans, C. (2007). Ethics in nursing education: learning to reflect on care practices. Nursing Ethics , 14 (6), 758-766.
