Strategies for Managing Intra-Professional Conflicts in Nursing

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of conflict resolution strategies tailored for Registered Graduate Nurses (RGNs) in the Australian healthcare context. The assignment addresses the challenges faced by RGNs, particularly those stemming from working outside their scope of practice, wh...Read More

MANAGING CONFLICT RESOLUTION 1
Managing Conflict Resolution
Student’s Name
Institution Affiliate
Date

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Managing Conflict Resolution
Conflicts are inevitable, and they exist in all settings. The conflicts could be between
health professionals and among them such as nurses and doctors as well as their patients. The
type of strategies utilized in every particular conflict situation varies depending on the levels as
well as the roles of the nurses, especially the Registered Graduate Nurses. There are a lot of
challenges faced by the Graduate Registered Nurses after completion of their studies and also
when they enter into the nursing market. The challenges relate to the management of conflict
resolution while in the workplace. The conflicts among the nurses affect the operations as well as
a workflow in the health care units, and this calls for a need for particular strategies to assist in
managing such conflicts (Yusuf & Ibrahim, 2019). A conflict that is not addressed often results
in an adverse impact on teamwork as well as the productivity of an organization. Intra
professional conflicts among the RNS results in negative effects. For instance, it causes the RNS
to become stressed and this negatively affects the professional as well as their personal lives.
The other major impacts of the conflict include, the problem of sleeping, loss of appetite,
being unapproachable and headaches among others. By use of various conflict resolution
strategies in the workplace, it will assist in the maintenance of a healthy working environment.
Getting to know how to respond to particular conflicts such as inter professional conflicts helps
in the development of conflict resolution strategies. Thus the Registered Graduate Nurses needs
to remember that the therapeutic nurse-patient relationship is the foundation of nursing care.
Such a relationship is threatened when there is conflict. The major examples indicating intra
professional conflicts between the RNS and other nurses include, when the RNS perform their
duties outside their scope of their practice in regards to their working team. A RNS who does not
perform his or her duty within the scope of practice results in lack of trust and believe by the

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team, and this may result in negative impact on their reputation. Due to no working within the
scope of practice, the RNS could be deregistered leading to disagreement between the RNS and
the other nurses. This paper seeks to explain the major strategies that can be used by Registered
Graduate Nurse in managing intrapersonal conflicts in the workplace.
Strategies in Managing Intra Professional Conflicts
One particular strategy that can be used by the Registered Graduate Nurses in the
management of intra-personal conflicts is collaborating. Collaborating entails cooperating with
the other party to comprehend their concerns and later give your concerns to get a satisfactory
and mutually solution, that is a win-win (Soliku & Schraml, 2018). Studies indicate that the use
of collaborating as a form of addressing intrapersonal conflict leads to the promotion of creative
problem-solving. Thus it is a means of creating a rapport and mutual respect among the
individuals concerned (Shaffer et al., 2018). The Registered Graduate Nurse is often faced with
the problem of getting used to the new work environment, and this leaves them a bit confused
about what to do, resulting in conflicts with other nurses. Thus they are forced to collaborate
with the other nurses to enable them to curb the particular situation and understand what to do in
the workplace. However, collaborating, as a strategy of conflict management, usually takes time
for both parties to reach an amicable solution (Helms & Oliver, 2015).
Compromising is the other primary conflict strategy that can be used by the registered
graduate nurse in handling intrapersonal conflicts (Mastrotheodoros et al., 2019). It involves an
attempt to resolve a conflict through the identification of a particular solution that is considered
to be partially satisfactory to the parties involved. However, such a solution should not be
satisfactory for both the parties (Dignath, Kiesel & Eder, 2015). The Registered Graduate Nurses
can use the mentioned strategy to resolve the conflicts that may arise with other nurses. They

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will have to agree and at the same disagree until a solution is eventually found (Du, Cui & Su,
2018).
The other strategy is effective communication by the Registered Graduate Nurses in
solving the intrapersonal conflicts with the other nurses. Through communication, team cohesion
is promoted and attained. Thus the Registered Graduate Nurses must converse with other nurses
horizontally (Crowley, Hinchliffe & McDonald, 2017). Every organization advocates for
effective communication among its employees because it increases respect and trust. Studies
have shown that the nurses who work together as a team tend to promote cohesiveness amongst
them resulting in success to the completion of major jobs in health care units (Maclean,
Robinson & Natcher, 2015). If there is intra professional conflict as a Registered Graduate
Nurse, one should seek advice from the head nurse to help them practice their duties within their
scope of practice (De Dreu, 2015). Such an action will help in the enhancement of their skills
and knowledge to enable them to provide appropriate care for the patients. The registered
graduate nurses can go through national competency standards as well as the hospital policies to
help them to understand their tasks (Hauser et al., 2017).
Finally, the Registered Graduate Nurses can also use the accommodation as a technique
of resolving conflicts with other nurses. Accommodation entails selflessness, low assertiveness,
and sacrifice that is an individual is willing to give up everything to preserve a relationship with
the other party (Bercovitch, 2019). It is usually advisable to apply the mentioned strategy,
especially when dealing with a matter that of little importance. Such a strategy will be utilized if
the RNS does not feel that their goals are not considered to be significant by other nurses
(Igbinoba et al., 2018). The feeling could be as a result of the feeling of other nurses being

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stronger than them in the profession, decreased dedication towards the nursing profession since
they are first-timers and low self-confidence (Chiarchiaro et al., 2016).
Conclusion
In summary, there a lot of problems that are faced by Registered Graduate Nurses in
relation to the tasks they carry out. One major challenge is working within their scope of duties,
and this results in major conflicts between them and the nurses. Consequently, they could get
deregistered by the nursing practitioners union. Through disputes in health care units, there are
major problems that arise, such as lack of trust among the nurses that results in low levels of
accountability and transparency. Other problems include little job satisfaction, compromise of
patient care, and low productivity levels among the RNS. To overcome such conflicts as well as
challenges, various strategies can be used. Some of such strategies to help in the management of
conflicts include effective communication that entails proper conversation with the other nurses.
Others are accommodating, compromising, and collaborating. Through the use of the above
mentioned strategies towards the management of conflicts, the Registered Graduate Nurses will
have the opportunity to resolve the major issues causing the conflicts between them and the other
nurses.

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