Conflict is inevitable in any professional field; my line of work included. I work at a rehab that specializes in assisting elderly patients. This is one of the places where disputes are the least thought to occur because of the nature of the working environment and the people involved: The facilities comprise of people of diverse background, of varying opinions, beliefs and attitudes; and more often than not disagree on various issues. I recently witnessed a serious clash between one of the patients and an assigned nurse responsible for the patient’s well-being. The issue was that the patient refused to consume some of the prescribed drugs on the belief that they were harmful to her health. At first, we thought it was something normal as patients sometimes do not want to take their medications but this was different, as it escalated into a situation that was beyond our control.
The facility had to involve the management and representatives of the patient to control the situation. The facility is lucky to have some of the most competent managers skilled in conflict management. Notably, interpersonal conflicts commonly occur in health-affiliated centers between patients and nurses or physicians (Johansen, 2012, pg.50). As such, ensuring competency in conflict management is crucial for our center. This is revealed by how the situation was handled. At first, with the participation of the nurse, the facility had to understand the patient’s point of view, and this was accomplished by focusing on what the patient thinks. Notably, effective resolution of conflict entails clear communication and high levels of understanding for the perceived sources of disagreement (Johansen, 2012, pg.50). The next step involved discussions between representatives of the facility, the patient and her legally recognized representatives. The parties involved established that the patient baulked medications out of fear and it was evident that this could not be reasoned away. As such, the involved parties had to negotiate an acceptable solution which involved allying patient’s fear and seeking alternative means to the medications. This way, the problem was effectively contained.
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The conflict management style employed in the case was a compromising style. According to Chan, Sit, and Lau (2014), the style attempts to find a solution that is particularly pleasing to the conflicting parties. It focuses on finding a middle ground where the parties would be satisfied to a certain extent or unsatisfied. Compromising style is suitable in conflict situations that demand that a solution must be arrived at and the process of arriving at a solution is time-bound (Lee & Lee, 2015). For instance, regarding the case at the facility, it is important to reach a solution as fast as possible before jeopardizing the health of the patient. The objective of the style is to solve as opposed to the appropriateness of the solution to the needs of the parties (Rahim, 2017). In this case, the facility had to give up the idea of offering pills to the patient and opt for an injection, and the patient had to give up resisting to adhering to the new form of medication.
I had no direct involvement with the situation which makes it difficult to apply concepts and ideas from the scenario to the future approach to conflict management. However, I was more of a witness and also the reason why a reasonable ground was achieved since I reported the incidence to the office responsible. Later when the person in charge of conflict management sought my opinion on how to go about the issue since I had a personal interaction with the involved patient, I suggested the idea of engaging her representatives. What my actions from the situation and others similar reveal about my typical approach is that they are indicative of the fact that I am conscious about conflict management. Also, decisions I have taken so far reveal that I have always been doing the right thing regarding resolving conflict like reporting the issues to the right person or giving my opinion regarding a case.
From how I handled the situation, it is clear that I am not adequately skilled in resolving disputes and that I need to learn the basics so that in future when there is no one around to carry out the process, I can comfortably initiate the resolution. Nonetheless, I am an effective leader, considering the ability to influence power and emphasize interpersonal relationships (Marquis & Huston, 2017, pg.50): I reported the incidence and had a personal opinion on the same worth consideration by those resolving the dispute. One of the vital skills of conflict management is active and effective listening (Prause & Mujtaba, 2015). To successfully resolve a misunderstanding between individuals or groups, a mediator must learn and understand the perspectives, opinions, and ideas of both the parties and this can only be achieved through active listening. The other skill is communication; and this is a step I will take to advance from my comfort level of conflict management. It involves making parties listen and follow the recommendations aiming to bring peace in a tense situation. Interpersonal communication skills are further essential for leaders in managing conflict (Marquis & Huston, 2017, pg.484). each of these skills, therefore, as key to my development.
Conflict resolution is a daily occurrence at a typical work environment that can disrupt or propel the momentum of a leader. Conflict management is one of the components that measure the effectiveness of a leader in a variety of ways (Saeed, Almas, Anis-ul-Haq, & Niazi, 2014). To be successful, a leader must master the art of conflict management especially in demanding work environments such as health care which is prone to a diverse range of disputes, especially from patients. Therefore, my understanding of an effective leader involves adopting at least one of the conflict management styles such as collaborative, competitive, compromising, accommodating, or avoiding and knowing when and how to apply them on real issues.
References
Chan, J. C., Sit, E. N., & Lau, W. M. (2014). Conflict management styles, emotional intelligence and implicit theories of personality of nursing students: A cross-sectional study. Nurse education today , 34 (6), 934-939.
Johansen, M. L. (2012). Keeping the peace: conflict management strategies for nurse managers. Nursing Management , 43 (2), 50-54.
Lee, Y., & Lee, H. (2015). Role conflict and conflict management styles of hospital nurses. Korean Journal of Stress Research , 23 (3), 147-158.
Marquis, B. L., & Huston, C. J. (2017). Leadership Roles and Management Functions in Nursing: Theory and Application .
Prause, D., & Mujtaba, B. G. (2015). Conflict management practices for diverse workplaces. Journal of Business Studies Quarterly , 6 (3), 13.
Rahim, M. A. (2017). Managing conflict in organizations . Routledge.
Saeed, T., Almas, S., Anis-ul-Haq, M., & Niazi, G. S. K. (2014). Leadership styles: relationship with conflict management styles. International Journal of Conflict Management , 25 (3), 214-225.
