Managing Conflict Situations in Nursing Report (Assessment)

Unfortunately, conflict situations happen often in different life spheres, and a working environment is not an exception. There are many reasons for these situations to occur, but the most important thing here is to know how to handle them. The fact is that no team can work without conflicts; that is why particular strategies should be developed and applied. As for a nursing context, it is of crucial significance to master conflict management because only cohesive teams can perform their duties properly and effectively. Thus, one should understand the term conflict, its impact on the GRN’s experience, and the best strategies to manage conflict situations.

Defining and Describing Conflict

Conflicts are severe issues that can have many negative consequences for all their parties. According to Baddar, Salem, and Villagracia (2016), conflicts are inevitable issues of a complicated character in a nursing environment. Even though these situations are negative by themselves, they can have positive consequences, but only if they are adequately managed (Lahana, Tsaras, Kalaitzidou, Kaitelidou, & Sarafis, 2017). There are many examples of intra-professional conflict situations that may occur for GRNs. Berry, Gillespie, Fisher, Gormley, and Haynes (2016) mention that workplace bullying is the most common conflict between experienced and novice members of staff. Communicative problems can be another example of such conflict situations (Hezaveh, Rafii, & Seyedfatemi, 2014). Furthermore, Bajwa et al. (2019) argue that poor relationships among registered nurses can be the most common example of conflicts. Thus, intra-professional conflict situations are severe issues that can manifest themselves through various cases, affecting different working and personal aspects for Graduate Registered Nurses.

Impact of Conflicts

Since conflict situations are inevitable, it is necessary to identify how they can influence nursing teams and the GRN’s experiences. According to Hofler and Thomas (2016), these conflicts can affect the quality of care provided, which is harmful to patients. Budin, Brewer, Chao, and Koyner (2013) state that regular conflicts make stress and anxiety appear within nursing teams. These are the first signs of dangerous problems that can develop further. The existing stressful environment can make GRNs desire to leave their positions or work entirely, which makes it difficult for them to perform their duties properly (Cheng, Tsai, Chang, & Liou, 2014). If conflicts are quite often, even the most obedient GRNs become uncivil to their colleagues (Mellor & Gregoric, 2016). That is why it is of crucial significance for healthcare organizations to address the issue of conflicts and provide registered nurses with emotional support (Ebrahimi, Hassankhani, Negarandeh, Gillespie, & Azizi, 2016). Thus, any conflict situation can have a severe impact on beginning registered nurses.

Conflict Management Strategies

Since intra-professional conflicts are common phenomena and their consequences can be quite harmful to everyone, particular strategies can help registered nurses deal with these situations. On the one hand, it is necessary to teach future registered nurses how to handle conflicts when they are students (Clark, Ahten, & Macy 2013; Rush, Adamack, Gordon, & Janke, 2014). Besides, Clark, Ahten, and Macy (2014) emphasize that particular attention should be paid to nursing students who are nearing their graduation. Those GRNs who have learned this ability show a bit better results in handling conflicts. On the other hand, it is impossible to overestimate the meaning of effective conflict management strategies.

Compromising

A conflict management style of compromise is one of the best ways of dealing with unpleasant situations (Leksell, Gardulf, Nilsson, & Lepp, 2015). Its main task is to eliminate a cause of conflict for a particular time by offering the other party to the conflict something instead. Implementing this strategy requires that individuals should understand that everyone has their own values together with shared ones, and it is necessary to respect all of them (Chang & Daly, 2015). Hodge and Varndell (2018) point out that this conflict management style can require external assistance from experienced specialists to be used effectively. Furthermore, one should understand that compromising brings opposite consequences for the conflicting parties. Resolving conflict according to this style means a win for one side is a loss for the other one; next time, they switch their roles.

Compromising can be a realistic way of handling conflicts because it offers some benefits to both parties. If a GRN wants to obtain something, they understand that it is necessary to effect a compromise now or then. Even though this conflict management style does not make a problem disappear at all, it helps reduce tension significantly and create a pleasant environment for further cooperation (Theisen & Sandau, 2013). In this case, colleagues learn how to identify and respect each other’s needs, which inevitably leads to team cohesion. Thus, a conflict management style of compromise can be a useful variant to resolve slight conflicts.

Collaboration

If nurse-to-nurse conflicts are of a large scale, compromising will not help solve them effectively. In this case, it is necessary to use a collaborative conflict management style that is said to be one of the most useful variants (Lahana et al., 2017). This strategy means that the conflicting sides should find some touchpoints that will make them work together on solving the conflict. For this, one should be able to convince and persuade others. That is why this management style can be used by those GRNs who have perfect communication skills (Mellor, Gregoric, & Gillham, 2017; Sparacino, 2016). The fact is that this long-term plan can be implemented only through skillful conversations.

Thus, a collaborative conflict management strategy is one of the best means to facilitate problem resolution and build team cohesion in the clinical setting. The fact is that meaningful collaboration is the most crucial phenomenon for creating a working and effective environment among registered nurses, both graduate and experienced ones (El Haddad, Moxham, & Broadbent, 2017). That is why individuals should do their best to solve conflicts through collaboration. In addition to that, using this conflict management strategy teaches nurses how to be leaders. The point is that it is necessary to have some leadership qualities to initiate and implement a process of resolving a problem (Cherry & Jacob, 2018). As GRNs keep on applying this strategy, their leadership level increases in the eyes of others. It can result in the fact that a nurse will earn authority from both their colleagues and senior staff members. Thus, this conflict management plan seems to be useful for everyone.

Conclusion

Conflict situations are said to be inevitable phenomena when it comes to relationships among individuals. As for graduate registered nurses, they can witness different kinds of intra-personal conflicts in a clinical environment. Besides, these unpleasant situations can negatively influence both individuals’ experiences and even a whole nursing team. That is why every separate nurse should be familiar with various conflict management strategies and know which are the most helpful. Thus, the strategies of compromise and collaboration are considered the most effective. Even though it is not impossible to live and work without conflicts, the management strategies above can help minimize their negative effect significantly.

References

1. Baddar, F., Salem, O., & Villagracia, H. N. (2016). Conflict resolution strategies of nurses in a selected government tertiary hospital in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 6(5), 91-99.
2. Bajwa, N. M., Bochatay, N., Muller-Juge, V., Cullati, S., Blondon, K. S., Perron, N. J., … Nendaz, M. R. (2019). Intra versus interprofessional conflicts: Implications for conflict management training. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 1-10.
3. Berry, P. A., Gillespie, G. L., Fisher, B. S., Gormley, D., & Haynes, J. T. (2016). Psychological distress and workplace bullying among registered nurses. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 21(3). doi:10.3912/OJIN.Vol21No03PPT41
4. Budin, W. C., Brewer, C. S., Chao, Y-Y., & Koyner, C. (2013) Verbal abuse from nurse colleagues and work environment of early career Registered Nurses. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 45(3), 308-316.
5. Chang, E., & Daly, J. (2015). Transitions in nursing: Preparing for professional practice (4th ed.). Chatswood, Australia: Elsevier Health Sciences.
6. Cheng, C.-Y., Tsai, H.-M., Chang, C.-H., & Liou, S.-R. (2014). New graduate nurses’ clinical competence, clinical stress, and intention to leave: A longitudinal study in Taiwan. The Scientific World Journal, 1-9.
7. Cherry, B., & Jacob, S. R. (2018). Contemporary nursing: Issues, trends, & management (8th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Health Sciences.
8. Clark, C. M., Ahten, S. M., & Macy, R. (2013). Using problem-based learning scenarios to prepare nursing students to address incivility. Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 9(3), e75-e83.
9. Clark, C. M., Ahten, S. M., & Macy, R. (2014). Nursing graduates’ ability to address incivility: Kirkpatrick’s level-3 evaluation. Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 10, 425-431.
10. Ebrahimi, H., Hassankhani, H., Negarandeh, R., Gillespie, M., & Azizi, A. (2016). Emotional support for new graduated nurses in clinical setting: A qualitative study. Journal of Caring Sciences, 5(1), 11-21.
11. El Haddad, M., Moxham, L., & Broadbent, M. (2017). Graduate nurse practice readiness: A conceptual understanding of an age old debate. Collegian, 24(4), 391-396.
12. Hezaveh, M. S., Rafii, F., & Seyedfatemi, N. (2014). Novice nurses’ experiences of unpreparedness at the beginning of the work. Global Journal of Health Science, 6(1), 215-222.
13. Hodge, A. N., & Varndell, W. F. (2018). Professional transitions in nursing: A guide to practice in the Australian healthcare system. Sydney, Australia: Allen & Unwin.
14. Hofler, L., & Thomas, K. (2016). Transition of new graduate nurses to the workforce: Challenges and solutions in the changing health care environment. North Carolina Medical Journal, 77(2), 133-136
15. Lahana, E., Tsaras, K., Kalaitzidou, P. G., Kaitelidou, D., & Sarafis, P. (2017). Conflicts management in public sector nursing. International Journal of Healthcare Management, 1-7.
16. Leksell, J., Gardulf, A., Nilsson, J., & Lepp, M. (2015). Self-reported conflict management competence among nursing students on the point of graduating and registered nurses with professional experience. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 5(8), 82-89.
17. Mellor, P., & Gregoric, C. (2016). Ways of being: Preparing nursing students for transition to professional practice. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 47(7), 330-340.
18. Mellor, P., Gregoric, C., & Gillham, D. (2017). Strategies new graduate registered nurses require to care and advocate for themselves: A literature review. Contemporary Nurse: A Journal for the Australian Nursing Profession, 53(3), 1-31.
19. Rush, K. L., Adamack, M., Gordon, J., & Janke, R. (2014). New graduate nurse transition programs: Relationships with bullying and access to support. Contemporary Nurse: A Journal for the Australian Nursing Profession, 48, 219-228.
20. Sparacino, L. L. (2016). Faculty’s role in assisting new graduate nurses’ adjustment to practice. SAGE Open Nursing, 2, 1-9.
21. Theisen, J. L., & Sandau, K. E. (2013). Competency of new graduate nurses: A review of their weaknesses and strategies for success. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 44(9), 406-414.