When working in any stressful environment conflicts in professional practice can occur due to various reasons. Tension and stress can heighten different forms of conflict due to miscommunication, differing personality, communication styles, varying opinions, and differing values. Conflicts can occur between colleagues or between you and your nursing leadership team. Identifying the chronic, continuing conflicts in the workplace is imperative to achieve a harmonious and healthy work environment. According to the American Nurses Association (ANA), (2023) different examples of conflict scenarios are staffing ratios and workload distributions; interdisciplinary disagreements about treatment plans, responsibilities, or decision making processes; ethical topics such as end of life care, resource utilization, and patient autonomy; communication breakdowns resulting in misunderstandings or lack of information; role conflicts resulting from overlapping roles; and resource conflicts due to limited supplies, equipment, or budget allocations. It is important to identify what conflicts are occurring in your workplace and to resolve these unwanted conflicts before it affects patient care. It is important to provide the healthcare team with the education and necessary tools to mitigate conflicts. The ANA, (2023) provides five approaches to resolve interpersonal conflicts. Using Accommodation to maintain peace and harmony within the workplace, especially if the situation could turn into a severe issue. Collaboration is used when evaluating others differing views. This way of communication can give way to new ideas. Compromising is a strategy utilized as a bargaining agreement to temporally agree on a solution. Avoidance is used in feelings of intense anger to avoid escalating an argument, but only provides a short-term resolution. Lastly, competition is a short-term resolution of assertively resolving a conflict when one person has more decision making power. Additionally, not only in healthcare but in any workplace, it is important to identify underlying issues and to find solutions that identify the root cause allowing to solve more of the core problem than a quick solution. Fostering open communication in the workplace creates a supportive work environment allowing for constructive and supportive feedback. From a leadership standpoint following your organizational policies and procedures gives the management team a set standard for employees to follow and avoids any issues of thoughts of biased or unfair treatment to staff. The workplace should be a positive work environment that values employees and leadership. Respect should be given on all levels and open communication is crucial and fundamental in having a positive outcome for patients, employees, and management. It is important that the organizational culture and values are comparable to your own values and beliefs. If you have differing opinions within some groups of the organization, it can become a source of conflict. On the other hand, Organizational Culture fosters achievement, attracts the right employees, and sifts out the ones who are not a good fit. According to an article in the Academy to innovate HR (Gardner, 2023), organizations with strong cultures and positive workplace communities experience:
If you have employees who have a positive workplace environment the more likely the employee will be engaged thus positively affecting organizational performance. In a healthcare organization this equals more quality patient care.
American Nursing Association (2023, September 18). Conflict Resolution Strategies in Nursing https://www.nursingworld.org/resources/individual/nurse-managers/conflict-resolution-in-nursing/
Gardner, R. (2023, October 31). 12 types of organizational culture You should know. AIHR. https://www.aihr.com/blog/types-of-organizational-culture/
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