As nurses, it is paramount that we learn how to deal with conflicts on a daily basis. These conflicts can range from patient care, to being a strong patient advocate. Some conflicts are easily corrected and others take more time and energy away from what should be focused on the patient. Collaboration does not always come easy. It takes practice. It is like the old saying, “practice makes perfect.” Being in the healthcare industry we are always collaborating in one way or another. Our biggest collaboration comes with our patients. We need to collaborate with the healthcare team to come up with a multidisciplinary plan of care for our patients to provide the best possible outcomes available. Working together as a team for our patients utilizes the individual skills and knowledge of each person. I am a firm believer in the need to collaborate with the nurse leaders and managers in the hopes to have a unit that runs smoothly as well as to make all the difference in the patients’ outcome while on our unit. Being in healthcare, we are always dealing with patients that can be experiencing life-threatening illnesses. The last thing we want to do is to make matters worse for our patients.
My “hot button” is rude behavior or the people who lie. For example, I had a non-compliant patient who would just be rude to everyone no matter what you do to please the patient. Even if you meet his demands, he would a find way to yell at you or be violent. In cases like this, I usually try to ask the patient in calmly matter what the problem is and that we have no violence policy. If the patient still doesn’t listen to me, then I either go get the charge nurse or the floor director. I was always taught to try to calm the situation first by explaining and if nothing works then to get the charge nurse to come up and talk. Do not try to argue with the patient since that can only make the situation worst. As a nurse, we need to have the confidence that we can handle the situation or at least know what avenues are available to help resolve the conflict.
The Advantages & Disadvantages of Collaborating Conflict Management. (n.d.). Retrieved, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-disadvantages-collaborating-conflict-management-36052.html
Hi:
At my hospital we get a lot of drug abusers and they can be very rude,disrespectful, and violent. It takes a lot of patience and talking to handle the situations. As you said, being the nurse you try to solve the situation first, but when it fails you do the right thing in following the chain of command. I always tell the staff not to expose themselves to getting hurt.