Conflicts are inevitable at workplace because employees have different point of views. Common causes of workplace conflicts are communication problems, role disputes, organizational structure, limited resources and lack of professional commitment. Finkelman & Kenner (2016) state that conflict cannot be eliminated; but it can be managed to reduce adverse outcomes on patients. Thus, the purpose of this research paper is to evaluate a typical conflict between nurses to identify the type and the stages of conflicts. The paper will conclude with strategies for solving the conflict.
Describe a Recurring Conflict that you observed
A recurring conflict that I observed is communication problems when handing over shifts. Nurses work on rotating shifts, and at the end of the shift, they handover to ensure the safe transition of responsibility. During one incident, nurse A was asked by the charge nurse to give a report to the AM nurse on the patient she was caring for during the night. Nurse A gave the charge nurse the report, but when the AM nurse (Nurse B) she was very rude to Nurse A for providing the report to the charge nurse instead of giving it to her. Nurse B complained that Nurse A and other night shift nurses are disrespectful and they often leave without finishing their job leaving the day-shift nurses with a lot of responsibilities. Nurse A tried defending her actions but Nurse B was talking loudly, and she did not want to listen. Eventually, Nurse A walked away while Nurse B continued complaining.
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Type of Conflict
The conflict can be classified as an individual and intergroup conflict at the same. Finkelman & Kenner (2016) describes an individual conflict as role conflict, caused by incompatibility between one or more role expectations. Staff tends to be critical of each other for not fulfilling a particular role, even when they are not sure who is supposed to fulfill that particular responsibility. Nurse B works during the day-shift, and she was very critical of Nurse A for not giving her the report and giving it to the charge nurse. The conflict also qualifies as an intergroup conflict because Nurse B, who works during the day-shift expressed her dissatisfaction with the entire night-shift nurses claiming that the group failed to fulfill all of its responsibilities. According to Finkelman & Kenner (2016), an intergroup conflict occurs between teams; the conflict can be caused by competition or lack of understanding of the responsibilities of each side.
Stages of Conflict
Finkelman & Kenner (2016) state that when conflict occurs, there is a lack of understanding of everyone’s responsibilities. A conflict goes through the four stages of latent, perceived, felt, and manifest. In the latent stage, there is competition for resources or lack of communication, which are the two predictors of conflict. During the first stage, individuals anticipate conflict, and they can verbalize by saying “this is going to be a problem.”
The second stage of conflict is the perceived conflict. The stage is characterized by the recognition that conflicts exist at a particular time. The staff might not discuss their perception that a conflict is about to occur, but they know that if things continue as they are there will be a conflict.
In the third stage, individuals begin to have feelings about a conflict such as anxiety and anger. At this stage, staff stress is high and small things can trigger conflict. Staff use avoidance strategies to prevent the conflict from escalating. Staff applies avoidance hoping that the dispute will be naturally resolved before it can move to the next stage.
Lastly, manifest conflict is an overt conflict, which is either destructive or constructive. The conflict described is at the manifest stage as Nurse A and Nurse B were arguing over the patient report. Finkelman & Kenner (2016) explain that manifest destructive conflict is characterized by destructive behavior such as ignoring a policy or denying a problem. Constructive behaviors such as encouraging the team to identify and solve the problem or expressing appropriate feelings can solve the problem. Nurse A and Nurse B failed to address the issue by talking over each other instead of listening and finding a solution to the problem. Nurse A walked away while Nurse B was left shouting on her own.
Delegation played a role in the conflict. Zhang et al. (2017) define delegation as the process of empowering a particular group/ individual with the responsibility of specific activities. Delegation is closely related to empowerment, as the leader only delegates roles to individuals who are empowered and capable of fulfilling the duties. Finkelman & Kenner (2016) define empowerment as, “to empower is to enable to act.” Through delegation, empowered nurse leaders give specific roles to each team, and every team member must fulfill his or her role on time. Nurse B felt that Nurse A and the entire night-shift nurses failed to perform all their roles every other time leaving the day-shift nurses fulfilling some of their responsibilities.
Strategies to Resolve Conflict
There are many strategies for resolving a conflict, and they include negotiation, accommodation, empowerment or compromising (Jerng et al., 2017). Jerng et al. (2017) give other strategies such as avoiding and competition, but these strategies do not resolve the conflict. Avoidance is a strategy used by individuals who are not comfortable with the conflict. The individual will withdraw from the situation to avoid the conflict. Avoidance works in certain circumstances, but it will not work in the conflict between Nurse A and Nurse B as they have to work together every day. Alternatively, competition is a strategy that of using legitimate power to end a conflict. The leader/manager decides how the dispute should be resolved after analyzing the situation.
Accommodation is a conflict resolution strategy where one gives the opposing side what it wants. For example, in the conflict between Nurse A and Nurse B, Nurse A would provide Nurse B what he/she wants. Accommodation strategy solves the conflict in the short-term, but employees often keep a record of the things they compromise on leading to resentment.
The strategy of negotiation brings together the conflicting sides to work on solving the problem. Negotiation is about integrating ideas with the aim of finding a common solution that benefits everyone. For the negotiation strategy, Nurse A and Nurse B, or rather the entire day and night-shift nurses will come together to brainstorm on how to handover shifts smoothly. The compromising strategy is whereby both sides of the conflict give up some elements of their position (Moore, 2014). Compromising is a strategy and also an essential aspect of negotiation.
Finkelman & Kenner (2016) explore the concepts of powerlessness and empowerment and their effects on conflict resolution. When the staff feels that they are not recognized or appreciated; they become powerless. Powerless staff members cannot come up with creative solutions because they are not invested in the job and do not feel the need to change the situation. Powerless staff lacks the power to get things done. The different types of power include; legitimate, coercive, referent, reward, and expert power.
Empowerment, on the other hand, is the sharing of power. Power must be shared through participative decision making. Finkelman & Kenner (2016) state that staff can be empowered through education and experience, standards, law, and regulation. Leaders should seek to empower staff to make them self-sufficient and capable of making the right decisions. An empowered team is more likely to come up with a creative solution for a problem rather than blame each other.
The best strategy to resolve the conflict between the two nurses is collaboration. Collaboration is a positive approach whereby both sides attempt to an acceptable solution. By the end of the collaboration strategy, every team will feel like it has won and they are likely to collaborate in implementing the solution to avoid further issues.
The nurse leader is responsible for the entire team; therefore, the nurse leader mediates between the conflicting parties with the aim of reaching an amicable solution. I will work with the nurse leader by sharing what I observed during the conflict with the two nurse with the purpose of creating a solution. I will discuss the issue with the nurse leader to evaluate whether there is a more significant problem or the issue is between Nurse A and Nurse B. The nurse leader will then bring together Nurse A and Nurse B to talk about the conflict and the underlying issues that led to the conflict. The nurse leader will give each nurse a chance to talk about their problems before advising them on the way forward. According to Finkelman & Kenner (2016), the nurse leader negotiates an agreement that will solve the underlying issue before making suggestions on how each side can compromise to achieve the desired goal. Finkelman & Kenner (2016) give ideas for the nurse leader on how to solve issues effectively. The nurse leader should separate people from positions to establish clear roles for each position. The nurse leader should also treat the conflicting individuals with respect, trust and equal consideration for their needs. The leader must also listen actively to what is being said, and avoid defending one or explaining oneself so that the conflicting parties can reach an agreement.
Conclusion
The experience of observing Nurse A and Nurse B shows that conflicts are common at work. The conflict between Nurse A and B quickly escalated because it had been building up for a while as indicated by the four stages of a conflict. The two nurses did not handle the conflict positively as it ended with Nurse A walking away, while the other nurse was shouting at her. The best way to solve the situation is through collaboration where each person explains their side with the aim of working towards a solution that benefits everyone. The experience has shown me that workplace conflicts are common among colleagues, and they should educate themselves on the best strategies for dealing with conflicts. Strategies such as avoidance and competition don’t work well, and it leads to more problems in the long-run.
References
Finkelman, A. W., & Kenner, C. (2016). Teaching IOM: Implications of the Institute of Medicine reports for nursing education . Nursesbooks. org.
Jerng, J. S., Huang, S. F., Liang, H. W., Chen, L. C., Lin, C. K., Huang, H. F., & Sun, J. S. (2017). Workplace interpersonal conflicts among the healthcare workers: Retrospective exploration from the institutional incident reporting system of a university-affiliated medical center. PloS one , 12 (2), e0171696.
Moore, C. W. (2014). The mediation process: Practical strategies for resolving conflict . John Wiley & Sons.
Zhang, X., Qian, J., Wang, B., Jin, Z., Wang, J., & Wang, Y. (2017). Leaders’ Behaviors Matter: The Role of Delegation in Promoting Employees’ Feedback-Seeking Behavior. Frontiers in psychology , 8 , 920.
