After listening to the Webinar, I feel that the most important things for me to remember when managing conflict is that I cannot change other people and to let go. I often find myself holding onto things that happen at work during conflict and I allow it to change the way I look at someone. It can be easy to forget that I am not perfect, and neither are my coworkers. Nursing isn’t black and white and most of us nurses are just trying to do what we think is best for our patients at any given time. I also learned a lot of valuable lessons about effective listening. I need to make sure that I am listening to understand and not listening to respond. I also need to learn to avoid the gossip and make sure I am not contributing. What I consider to be “venting” could be poisoning my workplace and isn’t necessary.
One of my biggest buttons is laziness that directly affects patient safety or quality of care. I hate when I hear nurses say “I should have called the doctor or done this but I just didn’t want to” and then left the issue for the next shift leaving the patient in a vulnerable position. We are here for our patients and need to be present and advocating for them for our entire shift. I understand missing something or simply not putting two and two together, but deliberate negligence really pushes my buttons.
Reference
Khawand, P. (2014, June 06). Effective Strategies to Manage Conflict at Work (Video File). Retrieved April 7, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8_n-QGwh-E
Unfortunately your story sounds too familiar. I have worked with nurses that push off the work to the oncoming shift just because they did not want to deal with it and ends up delaying care for the patient. I think teamwork is important and everyone should think about how to set up the oncoming shift for success not failure. Thanks for sharing.
I can relate to several of the points you made in your post. A big one that you mentioned is “venting” or gossiping. This is so easy to get caught up in. Especially if you have a co worker say something like “can I just vent to you for a minute?”. I have found myself in that situation before and of course I listen to them. Sooner or later I find myself right in the mix gossiping. I feel terrible later and wish I wouldn’t have done that. Any suggestions on how to say no?
Your point of listening to understand instead of listening to respond is a great reminder that I will try to remember in the future.
Gossip is a detrimental yet prevalent aspect of any group culture. Some research shows that gossiping account for approximetly 65% of all speaking in a workplace setting. (Georganta, Montogmery, & Panagopoulou, 2014) Gossip can negatively effects people’s job satisfaction and lead to burnout. Gossip does have some positive aspects. Private talking among coworkers about work issues can make the workers feel unified and increase worker morale. The social structures and group mentality created from gossip can also be good for work culture if done in the right way.
Reference
Georganta, K., Montgomery, A., & Panagopoulou, E. (2014, August 07). Talking behind their backs: Negative gossip and burnout in Hospitals. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213058614000242