Conflict Resolution in The Workplace

This paper analyzes how to deal with conflicts in the workplace, using a case study of a conflict that arose in a medical ward. It explores leadership styles and strategies for preventing future conflicts.

Conflict Resolution in The Workplace.
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Abstract
Organizations and institutions in general suffer from diverse types of conflicts. It is in such
moments of conflicts that the leadership styles and attributes of the leaders are put to the test.
This paper analyses in detail how I dealt with a conflict that arose when I was the nurse in-charge
of a medical ward. The purpose of this paper is to explain in detail how I dealt with the conflict
and prevented it from arising again in future within the ward that I work in. This paper will also
analyze leadership styles that I used in the management of the conflict and its termination.
Conclusively, this paper will offer appropriate alternatives to prevent a similar situation from
occurring in a similar or different hospital scenario.
Introduction
Conflicts are common in any workplace. As long as there are two or more people in a workplace,
tension is bound to build up at one time or another within the workplace (Wallensteen, 2018).
Nurses play a variety of roles within the workplace such as acting as health educators,
coordinators, advocates to patient’s rights and managers in different workplace areas. The roles
that nurses have increase the probability of having interactions with other health professionals
during their activities and processes. These interactions increase the friction between the
different groups of health professionals working within the hospital environment (Dukes, 2018).
Conflict in itself is dynamic and can either be positive or negative in nature. Based on the fact
that conflict has the capability of developing into a dysfunction in the processes that continue in
the workplace , it is critical that conflicts are managed appropriately to avoid confusion in roles
and functions of health professionals within the workplace (Rubenstein, 2018; Singer, 2018).

Conflict in itself is the cumulative consequence of experiences or perceived variations in the
common goals, ideas, attitudes, and the associated feelings and actions of individuals in the
workplace (Jeong, 2018).
In order for leaders to adequately deal with the conflicts, it requires that they are both assertive
and considerate. The ability to employ aspects of active listening and maintaining an atmosphere
that does not have bias of any kind is essential during the process of decision making and
problem solving (Avruch & Black, 2014).
Event resulting to conflict.
Conflicts with the hospital workplace occur due to a variety of reasons. Conflict among health
professional in the hospital workplace can occur due to competition among them, due to
variations in the economic or even professional values that each of the professionals posses.
In the case that I dealt with , as the nurse in charge of a medical ward, a conflict came into being
as a result of nurse and doctor confronting each other over the admission of a patient in the ward.
The doctor wanted the hospitalized patient to receive admission into the ward. However, the
nurse was hesitant to admit the patient who had just left the post-operative room. The said patient
had undergone a surgery to remove a tumor. The nurse argued that the patient needed more time
in the post-operative room for appropriate monitoring and soon after should have been moved to
the surgical ward and not the medical ward (Polley, 2017).
The nurse coordinator spent a lot of time explaining the reasons for her hesitation, but the doctor
was reluctant to listen. As a result, the nurse was annoyed by the doctors inability to listen and an
argument ensued. The doctor argued that the nurses role was only to follow the commands that

he gave. The argument was further fueled by this comments. Both the doctor and the nurse
almost fought, while I moved to the location to calm the situation.
My position in the institution
As the nurse in-charge, my duty is to ensure that activities are running smoothly. The nurse in-
charge also has the duty to ensure that there is solidarity and that all activities are running
without huddles. Apart from that, the nurse in-charge has to ensure that all equipment are
provided for within the unit. The nurse in-charge ensures that all aspects of the institution are
running smoothly and without any huddles of any kind. Ensuring peace and tranquility within the
health department is also the associated duty of the nurse in-charge which I had to ensure was
appropriately maintained throughout the workings of the hospital workplace.
Measures applied to deal with the situation
In order to effectively deal with a conflict, it is important for a leader to have an established
means of dealing with the conflict in a timely an effective manner. Conflict resolution begins
through the use of adequate communication skills (Autesserre, 2014).
In order to deal with the conflict, I had to talk with both the doctor and nurse on duty in a private
setting. Privacy is important so as to reduce the tension that had been generated after the long
periods of strife among the nurse and the doctor.
The first thing that was done was to call the nurse and doctor in a separate location where it was
possible to talk to each of them in private (Lumsden,2018). After realizing the extent of the
heightened state of conflict that had ensued, I called both parties to my office were we could
have an extensive conversation as to the cause and possible solution of the disagreement that
ensued in the workplace.

Once privacy was actualised, I had to focus on the behavior and particular events that had led to
the conflict and avoid being personal with the cause of the conflict. Being personal during the
process of problem solving creates bias that further worsens the conflict and situation in general.
Active listening is an effective way of ensuring that one is able to communicate effectively and
listen to each parties complains (Nelson, 2017). I listened to each person’s side of the story
critically and in manner that did not exude bias. I gave both the doctor and the nurse some time
to speak and air out their individual complains so that the situation can be appropriately dealt
with. Communication is an effective way of not only reducing stress levels but also fostering
understanding between parties. Lack of communication is responsible for strife and war within
the workplace. Communication between parties can also help in finding out or dealing with the
situation by finding suitable solutions from the identified needs.
Afterwards, after analyzing the situation, I was able to identify the areas of disagreement that
existed between the two parties. I found out that the disagreement was based on personal
assumption of superiority and competition between the two parties. I then made sure that both of
them understood that there is no one who is above the other in the medical field and that all the
medical personnel work together so as to improve the health state of the patients under their care.
Prioritizing conflict in terms of urgent matters is highly crucial. I was able to prioritize the
conflict in terms of what needed attention first and what needed to be attended to later. Since the
patient is the most important consumer of healthcare, it was critical that the needs of the patient
receive the first attention. The patient had to be taken to the appropriate ward. I was also critical
that the parties avoid such unnecessary confrontations in future as this would risk both their
reputation and that of the hospital in the long-run. It was also crucial that both the medical
workers came to an agreement that showed they would never perform such an act in the future.

Leadership style used when resolving the conflict.
There are a variety of leadership styles that a leader can employ in an institution, among this are
the autocratic, democratic leadership, transformational leadership, team leadership, facilitative
leadership, cross-cultural leadership, facilitative and team leadership. In this in this instance, I
used the autocratic leadership style (Azar & Asiabar, 2015; Paramova,& Blumberg, 2017).
I had to coerce and give threats to the two for causing a commotion within the institution
premises. I had to make sure that both of them were made aware of the effects of their actions
and what the result of this actions would lead to at the end of the day. The use of autocracy is not
effective in most instance. However, it is effective in managing difficult situations where
individuals are not ready to cooperate with institutional policy (Komer, Jason, Harvey, &
Olson, 2015; Valle, 2016).
Autocracy causes deviant workplace behavior when used in multiple occasions. However, it is
critical to use the approach when workers fail to follow organizational norms in singular
occasions. It is not effective to use the approach in multiple occasions as it leads to deviant
behavior in workers. Workers should only be warned in order to avoid deviant behavior and not
left to work under pressure during most occasions as this further leads to deviant behavior among
the workers in questions (Ardestani, Asiabar, Azar & Abtahi, 2016).
Outcomes for the patient and staff involved in the conflict.
In-order for effective conflict resolution to be achieved, it is crucial that some warning are given
to those involved in the conflict. The nurse and doctor involved in the conflict were let go on a
disciplinary leave of one week. Both the nurse and doctor were to meet with the disciplinary
committee after the end of their leave.

Patient care had to be continued within the surgical ward until the patients condition improved.
The patient was wheeled to the surgical ward to receive patient centered care that met the
patient’s needs.
Changes to prevent future developments of such conflicts.
In order to avoid the development of a similar conflict in the near future, a list of patients who
could receive admission to the medical was developed. The laying down of guiding principles
that show how activities are supposed to be performed within the ward is effective as it ensures
that it is possible to differentiate which patient needs to be admitted in which facility and at what
stage of disease.
Nurses and doctors were also briefed on the expected workplace behavior while working in the
hospital. Those nurses and doctors who do not follow hospital policy were to face disciplinary
action.
Further it is critical for the mental health of nurses and doctors to face consideration. Due to this
fact, it is thus critical that all nurses were to visit the counselors office every once a month.
Depression affects work and performance. Medical workers who received medical care were
able to perform better at the workplace and produce better results compared to those who do not.
It is also easier for the management of emotional and other attributes related to the workplace.
Clinical leadership and its importance
Within the workplace environment, clinical leadership is critical in maintaining and fostering
cohesiveness in the workplace. Clinical leadership in itself describes the activities of leadership

that are practiced in the workplace. Aspects of leadership that are practiced in the clinical lsetting
are crucial in maintaining both personal and individual peace.
Poor clinical leadership is linked to poor patient prognosis and employee satisfaction. For better
employee satisfaction, appropriate frameworks of leadership that follow the hierarchy of
command and unity of direction must be appropriately established. A lack of unity of command
and unity of direction hampers progress in the workplace and leads to poor results at the end of
the day.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is essential to mange conflicts within an organization appropriately. The failure
to mange conflicts is linked to poor performance within the organization. Additionally, the
reputation of the hospital or medical facility is linked to how the worker respond to pressure and
conflict.
Recommendations
In-order to control conflict in the workplace and prevent future conflict from coming into form
within the workplace environment, it is crucial to promote a cohesive environment through
having formal gatherings that give both doctors and nurses to converse with each other. Holding
tea, building activities helps to build cohesiveness in the workplace. Team building activities
such as conferences and seminars where topics are discussed aid in bridging the gap between
community members.

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