Effective Communication And Constructive Feedback For Managing Conflict

Conflict is an unfortunate part of life and it is truly inevitable, however in the field of nursing it can be detrimental. “Conflict is defined as the discord that results when two or more parties have opposing or incompatible ideas, beliefs, or goals.” (Schub & Schub, 2015). Within healthcare settings there are an outstanding number of differences in opinions that could potentially lead to conflict throughout a number of different levels of the employees. Focusing in on one of those areas would be the nurse to nurse, or horizontal/lateral violence.

Everyone has to deal with conflict: both in the workplace and personal lives. Fresh nurses too have to witness this at their new work setting.

Poor communication puts patients in danger because it can lead to medical errors and adverse events. For example, a medication error can occur if a physician’s orders are not updated in time or if the outgoing nurse does not provide the correct time in which a dose was administered last. Thus it is crucial to communicate any recent treatment that has been implemented. In this way, nurses and physicians can facilitate the prevention of errors. Another consequence of ineffective communication is that it can decrease morale and increase work-related stress among members of the healthcare team. If nurses and physicians are not understanding each other’s actions, conflict ensues. It can cause toxic interpersonal relationships. This, in turn, will affect the level of patient care because it is difficult to focus amidst emotional strain and

Conflict has been an issue for man since the dawn of civilization. In today’s fast paced world conflict, especially in the workplace, is a frequent occurrence. When that workplace is a health care environment where lives are at stake, emotions run high and collaboration with many different disciplines is required conflict often becomes a prevalent part of everyday life. Conflicts in the workplace can lead to reduced morale, lowered productivity resulting in decreased patient care and can cause large scale confrontations (Whitworth 2008). In the field of nursing whether a conflict is with a peer, supervisor, physician, or a patient and their family, conflict management is a necessary skill.

Incivility is an umbrella term used to describe any type of negative behavior directed towards another individual that may impact the way that they behave and/or feel. While incidences of incivility may be visible in most professional careers, it’s significance in nursing has prompted a provisional statement from the American Nurses Association. “The nurse creates an ethical environment and culture of civility and kindness. Disregard for the effects of one’s actions on others, bullying, harassment, intimidation, manipulation, threats, or violence are always morally unacceptable behaviors” (American Nurses Association, 2015, p. 4). Dumont, Meisinger, Whitacre, & Corbin (2012)

Acts of incivility such as bullying, lateral violence, or harassment in the work place negatively affects nursing performance, mental health, and retention within an organization or even the profession of nursing (Warrner, 2016). A policy in the American Nurses Association (ANA) proclaims that the nursing profession will not tolerate violence of any kind from any source (ANA, 2015b). The Code of Ethics for Nurses by ANA requires nurses to promote an ethical environment and culture of civility with an emphasis on treating all parties with dignity and respect (ANA, 2015a). A study conducted in a rural Kentucky hospital’s medical- surgical units concluded that educational trainings in itself did not reduce the frequency of experiencing incivility in their unit (Armstrong, 2017). Nevertheless, nurses in the study reported that educational trainings increased their ability to recognize and appropriately respond to workplace incivility (Armstrong, 2017).

Nurses have a professional responsibility to ensure that safe boundaries are kept in the relationship between patient and Nurse. It is these boundaries that provide the nursing profession with integrity, and according to Baca (2010, pp.195) it is essential these boundaries be maintained because of the difference in power between the nurse and patient. However, boundary violations can occur, when a nurse crosses from the zone of helpfulness to over involved, the ANMC (2011 pp.3) believes that when a violation occurs a nurse is behaving unprofessional manner and misusing their power in the patient nurse relationship. This misuse of power can be categorized into 3 types; boundary crossing, boundary violation and the extreme form of sexual misconduct. Often by mistake a nurse could cross the boundary without thought, a

Thesis • Horizontal violence among nurses reduces the quality of care patients receive and influences whether students remain in the nursing profession based on clinical experiences during placement. • The Canadian Nurses Association (2005) defines horizontal aggression “as aggressive behaviour that one registered nurse commits against another in the workplace.” • Tolerance of horizontal violence is connected with hierarchical nature of abuse and continues to be unreported and overlooked because in many incidents the perpetrator involved is a supervisor, nurse manager or charge nurse. “In order to succeed, [nurses] must accept that their role is defined by those with power and authority (pitts, 1985).

Student nurses who are transitioning into the role of registered nurse need to learn how to work with other members of the interprofessional team to prevent the negative impact on nursing staff as well as

Nursing is a profession founded on caring, compassion and collaboration. I believe that all nurses come to work with good intentions, but sometimes something happens along the way. “Horizontal violence can exist to some extent in any institution, with the potential to disrupt the integrity of the nursing profession and ultimately compromise patient care” (Becher&Visovsky, 2012, P. 213). I think that its important for us as professional nurses to acknowledge the “existence of horizontal violence, confront horizontal violence, and take appropriate actions to mitigate it (Becher&Visovsky, 2012, P. 213).

Research in the area of incivility in nursing all agree that is it counterproductive, a morale killer, costly, and above all else dangerous. In an excerpt written by the American Nurses Association, incivility is defines as “one or more rude, discourteous, or disrespectful actions that may or may not have a negative intent behind them” (American Nurses Association). The field of nursing is a challenging, emotional, and high-stress profession susceptible for uncivil behavior towards one another.

I was particularly impressed by way this meeting dissected critical issues. The participants of this gathering welcomed openness and honesty from all. This meeting investigated ethical issues regarding patient care, and scenarios in which one’s discretion licensed him/her to question a patient’s judgments. This gathering also addressed the issue of productivity, in terms of sustaining it and enhancing it amid a taxing and demanding environment. The participants then proceeded to address common relational issues, which involved disagreements among nurses, and conflict mitigation. After witnessing the dynamics of this meeting, it became readily apparent that conflict

According to the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Hospitals (JCAHO) in July 2004 released a Sentinel Event Alert on the prevention of infant deaths. Its database showed that nearly three-quarters of hospitals cited communication break down and teamwork problems as a major reason for these deaths. The practice of teamwork and collaboration as a unit in patient care is especially important for the role as a professional nurse as it can make the job itself easier and more efficient. When teamwork is emphasized and valued in nursing the overall patient outcome is strongly enhanced. It is crucial all team members involved in the patient’s care work together and communicate effectively to reach the common shared goal. With the vast evolution of new knowledge and information in the medical field, patient care is more complex than ever. With such complex patient care, no one health care provider can treat a patient alone, it takes team work and collaboration between the multiple health care professionals involved in the patient care. Communication competencies should be emphasized to students as a vital aspect of a positive nursing environment during their educational experience.

The experience reflects emotional aggression related to student nurse assigned to a nurse who undermines, which is not an uncommon stressor for student

Nurses have a professional responsibility to ensure that safe boundaries are understood and maintained in a patient/nurse relationship. Nurses should be knowledgeable regarding professional boundaries and continued education assists them to achieve this. It is these boundaries that provide the nursing profession with integrity, and according to Baca (2010, pp.195) it is essential these boundaries be maintained because of the difference in power between the nurse and patient. However, boundary violations can occur, when a nurse crosses from the zone of helpfulness to over involved, the ANMC (2011 pp.3) believes that when a violation occurs a nurse is behaving in an unprofessional manner and misusing their power in the patient nurse relationship. This misuse of power can be categorized into 3 types; boundary crossing, boundary violation and the extreme form, of sexual misconduct. Often a nurse could cross the boundary without thought, a violation is a more serious matter when according to the ANMC (2011 pp. 5) the nurse puts his or her own needs in front of the