Conflict Resolution in Healthcare

Nonetheless, they are manageable. Conflicts must be identified as soon as possible and assessed and so that the most appropriate methods to manage them are defined and implemented. The forthcoming discussion will analyze a potential conflict and highlight the various procedures a nurse leader can follow in resolving the conflict. A common conflict in healthcare organizations occurs between nurses and physicians (Ammouri et al. The specific dispute, in this case, involves two nurses, a patient scheduled for amputation and a physician. The adverse outcomes of such conflicts include harm to the patient, lawsuits against the hospitals for wrong treatment, and the hospitals incur more costs in correcting wrong procedure. Their friction causes a waste of resources and time as well as damage the image of hospitals (Arnold, 2013).

Such conflicts create the impression that doctors and nurses will never agree on anything. The outcomes that lead the nurse leader to deduce that the conflict was unresolved was that nurses were adamant to work with individual doctors that were assigned to them. The increasing number of patient complaints on the type of treatment received also contributed to the nurse leader concluding that the conflict was unresolved. The nurse leader must merely go through the feedback from patients as well as carry out interviews with different nurses and physicians. At this stage, there is a determination of the facts regarding the conflict and ways to resolve the conflict is determined after the acknowledgment of the conflict (Ginter, Duncan, & Swayne, 2018). The next stage of conflict is felt conflict.

At this point, the nurses and physicians have specific feelings about the conflict especially anger and anxiety (Almost, et al. , 2016)y. The outcome of the conflict at this point is either destructive or constructive. Harmful effects include doctors ignoring policy, such as when the doctor is late for the surgery and therefore misses the confirmatory aspect of the operation. Doctors are quick to deny the fact that there exists a conflict (Arnold, 2013). The nurses try as much as possible to avoid the doctors and hence are never looking forward to a situation where they have to work together. At the manifest stage of the conflict, conflicting parties are encouraged to come up with ways to resolve the conflicts that arise. The strategies to conflict resolution, in this case, is centered around a collaborative environment between the doctors and the nurses.

It is traditionally believed that the two professions work together in treating patients. This is, in fact, wrong and is proven in the conflict over the amputation. The differences that arise are because doctors feel that they are the ultimate determiners of patient care. The nurses’ knowledge and skills of the nurses are undermined, and therefore adverse results occur. The hospital adopts a multidisciplinary critical incident debriefing, and therefore nurses and doctors work together in assessing and coming up with solutions to solve the issue (Ammouri et al. The tools used in the decision-making process promote a fair and just working environment that is both doctors and nurses are satisfied with decisions reached. Organisations can implement zero tolerance and adopt the platinum rule standards for the tow professions.

The platinum rule speaks of treating colleagues as they expect to be treated rather than how an individual would want to be treated. The no tolerance standards encourage group accountability rather than individualism. This would mean that physicians are tasked to identify the nurse of the year while nurses are responsible for determining the doctor of the year. Such recognition and reward systems encourage accomplishments as a team effort. Also included in the reward system is individual accountability for demonstrating team behaviors (Almost et al. A conflict resolution strategy that could serve to solve the differences between the nurses and doctors include is building a collaborative relationship from the point of hiring through to working together. Doctors and nurses work together in identify identifying the behavior and qualities they expect in team members.