As they carry on with their duties to attend to the patients at the various healthcare institutions, nurses cope with multiple types and levels of conflict. Nurses can be involved in conflicts with the other nurses at the hospital, the patients, and the management of the healthcare institutions (Fortenberry Jr & McGoldrick, 2016). Conflicts have many negative implications on the effectiveness of the nurses in their work. Firstly, conflicts may lead to the reduction of job satisfaction among nursing professionals in various job positions at a given hospital. The reduced job satisfaction is linked to the reduction in the motivation of the workers after being exposed to the various levels of conflict (Sharma, Dhar & Tyagi, 2016). The other possible effect of the presence of conflicts in a nursing setting is the reduction in the customer service levels at the institutions. For instance, if a conflict involves a nurse and a patient, the patient may choose never to be at the hospital again which may lead to the loss of a patient who chooses to seek healthcare services in the other institutions (Sharma, Dhar & Tyagi, 2016). The other effect of conflict among nurses is the reduction in the belief that the hospital management has for its workers under the nursing wings. There arises a negative perception among the senior management against the nurses working at a hospital where they bring up a conflict (Sharma, Dhar & Tyagi, 2016). The negative perception against the employees may lead to the denial of chances they can enjoy such as job promotions and other incentives given to motivate the employees in their work.
Sarah is a registered nurse working at Diamond Rock Hospital. She is in charge of one hundred and seventeen patient beds, which makes her one of the nurses at the hospital with the most significant workload. Sarah's job performance has historically been good with various achievements taking place in her work life. However, lately, Sarah's work has been lamentable. On various separate occasions, she has been reported to be disrespectful to the patients and the other hospital staff. Sarah's boss, Thomas Kane has severally summoned her to his office to discuss the trend that she has taken at work. Nonetheless, Sarah has aggravated her work issues and nearly every day, patients and the other hospital workers have been complaining against her work ethics. Thomas has been faced with an ethical dilemma of suspending or firing her from work while she still holds a crucial part in the nursing wing of Diamond Rock Hospital. Sarah's arrogance, rudeness, and ignorance of the medical procedures and the patients' feelings have been a recurring conflict at the hospital with more complaints being received by Thomas every day. From her trend, Sarah has not been mindful of the hospital's code of ethics and the core values that are supposed to guide the workers as they attend to the patient. With each attempt to get her to change her ways for the betterment of the customer service at the hospital, Sarah seems to ignore her great role at Diamond Rock Hospital increasingly. Thus, she has included her boss, the workers of the hospital and the patients who are continually seeking services at the hospital.
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The type of conflict in Sarah's case is categorized as an interpersonal conflict (Anicich et al., 2015). Interpersonal conflict is a disagreement that happens between two persons in a given organization due to dissatisfaction and bitterness. The selection of this type of conflict is centered on the fact that at any given time, Sarah is involved in a conflict with another person, mostly the other workers at Diamond Rock Hospital, as well as the patients. Additionally, the interpersonal conflict is based on relationships. The relationship between the conflicting parties plays a significant role in the development of the conflict and how it is solved (Anicich et al., 2015). The role of a relationship between two parties is often overlooked when a conflict is being analyzed. Good relationships bring about a sense of satisfaction, which emanates from the strong bond that the parties have. On the contrary, the lack of a relationship, for example between Sarah and one of her patients at the hospital, brings about a misunderstanding that bases a conflict (Anicich et al., 2015). The outcomes of such a misunderstanding are distress and the creation of a poor working environment for Sarah and any other registered nurse taking care of the patients at Diamond Rock Hospital. Interpersonal conflicts are fueled by heavy workload among the nurses with an increase in the number of patients who are admitted to the hospital. They are also fueled by the lack of proper communication skills, inadequate resources for use at the hospital. The recruitment of incompetent nurses at the hospital may also actively lead to the emergence of interpersonal relationships at the hospital.
The first stage of conflict is the potential phase (Ryan, 2017). The potential stage of conflict lies in the probability of a conflict to exist between parties. The parties, a6 this stage, realize that some of the diversities such as age, gender, and social class have the capability of causing conflict among them. The conflicts in such cases arise when one party feels that the other one is not sensitive to his or her needs. The second stage of conflict is the open conflict (Ryan, 2017). An open conflict occurs when actions and words trigger the occurrence of an incident that leads to a conflict. The raising of voices, expressions of anger either actively or passively and the increase in the number of people, in this case, characterized the conflict, during the conflict that leads to the aggravation of the conflict. The third stage of conflict is the negotiation phase (Tsen, Shapiro & Ashley, 2017). A conflict is slowed down by having a negotiation. In the case of a conflict between Sarah and another nurse at the hospital, themes may force Sarah to act in a particular way that is favorable to the other employee, which leads to the de-escalation of the conflict that had developed. The last stage of the conflict is the aftermath (Tsen, Shapiro & Ashley, 2017). The period is also referred to as the peacemaking period and is characterized majorly by the potential for the development of conflict being significant and especially if a party involved feels like they lost the conflict.
The primary strategy that deals with the high conflict and leads to the collaboration with the nurse leader is open communication. Open communication is a strategic approach to solving the challenges in the workplace. Some of the benefits that opening up the channels of communication will have for Diamond Rock Hospital are as follows. To begin with, the workers in the various departments at the hospital will be encouraged to keep in the topic in case there is a problem. For example, if Sarah's change of attitude to her work is influenced by the pressure to perform, she will be more encouraged to share what she is going through as far as her job is concerned so that a solution can easily be found. The other advantage of open communication n the solution of the conflict at Diamond Rock Hospital is that it enables the employees to be equipped to receiving constructive criticism from their colleagues. In some cases, the analyzing of an employee by another may eventuate into a conflict where the criticized employee may not take the comments kindly while the one giving the criticism may be too harsh to allow for general critiquing. Open communication will reduce the conflict between nurses and their patients by having the patients be advised on their roles in the care that is provided by the nursing. Thus, keeping the lines of communication open will reduce the various potentialities of conflict that are present at the hospital.
The conflict between Sarah, the management, the employees of the hospital and the patients have been made worse by the fact that she keeps ignoring the advice of her boss in the maintenance of optimum customer service. To deal with conflicts more efficiently in future, the following strategies will be proper. The first one is the avoidance of instances that are known to lead to the emergence of conflict. If an issue that may potentially lead to conflict is spotted, the management may quickly weigh it then determine how worthy it is for discussing. If it is unimportant, it can be avoided. The other strategy is the accommodation of the priority issues that may lead to severe effects such as the closure of a business or a mass demonstration of the workers. Accommodating the conflict is one way of having it dealt with before it starts to affect the parties involved severely. The other strategy is to force some of the factors to suit the ending of conflict. Some of the quickest and the most decisive actions to end a conflict may be implemented as part of forcing a party to be in line with the expected standards to reduce skirmishes. The other strategy is compromising. A compromise, as a strategy of ending a conflict, works on the goals that are considered mutually exclusive. Compromising in the conflict resolution process may lead to the feelings of dissatisfaction, however, where the warring parties are given some of what they want.
References
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