Managing Conflict in Healthcare: Necessary Training for Physicians - Essay Sample

Introduction

There are always instances of conflicts in healthcare. Disagreements arise as a result of many things which are about the treatment protocols, aims of the treatment and also poor communication which are warning signs that should notify the members before big issues arise. The management strategies of these conflicts can be used to prevent issues of escalation of the very disagreements. However, they are not a routine component of clinical training. In that case, physicians should be able to deliver their work appropriately as well as other stakeholders in the health care units before complaints arise.

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There are various direct and indirect costs that are associated with conflict and these include the likes of litigation, reduced productivity, team morale and staff turnover (Mehter et al., 2018). On the side of patients, disagreements lead to compromised decision making and also undermining the trust of clinicians. It is to mean that there is a need for being careful in administering care. Conflicts tend to consume a lot of time for the staff especially the nurses and the doctors. The conflicts in the workplace are rather pervasive because of the much time that managers spend to minimize them hence sharpen the creative edge of the organization.

The truth is that conflict is a major responsibility of the administrators (Mehter et al., 2018). Disagreements witnessed in the health care centers continue to be a growing concern because it draws the attention of the larger audience (public) where the mounting evidence lowers the rating of quality service centers hence inadequacy from the perspective of the patients. What is lacking in these centers are the abstract skills such as assessment, communication, negotiation and resolution of problems which are conflict management strategies.

The Root Causes of The Conflict

Conflicts are inevitable parts of professional life. One cause of conflict in healthcare units is the issue of limited time and resources. An example is when there are staffing shortages which lead to heavier workloads and longer shifts. Workers know most about their rights and would not like to listen and understand the issues of shortages of staff. The fact that they will be forced to foster care to the patients for longer hours than it is expected will lead to conflicts with the leaders of the organization (Saeed et al. 2014).

Another cause of conflict in the centers is the occurrence of differing goals, styles of work and also perspectives which then result in unmet expectations. It is the role of the management to make sure that they see to it that there is a smooth flow of work from the staff (Hart, 2018). There is a bar of standards that the managers have set concerning the level of professionalism that should come from the staff. Similarly, the staff has set their limits for how they should work hence when these goals differ, there is conflict witnessed.

Cultural diversity among colleagues and patients is also a root cause of conflicts in the healthcare units. There are challenges witnessed in communication or understanding the point of view from another person. It would thus result in a wrong diagnosis or administration of drugs because there is no proper understanding of the main issue. The healthcare centers are high-involvement work settings where collaboration is needed and that is more especially in the department of emergency. Thus, the nurses and physicians are required to avail themselves in such a situation without which there will arise conflicts. Similarly, the disparities in knowledge or power are also common within the health care hierarchy in that many cases of wrong medication or diagnosis will bring disagreements between the entire hospital institution and the family of the patient.

Symptoms of The Conflict

Conflicts do not just appear from nowhere as there are always signs warning that a particular disagreement will arise with time. Managers who are able to see these signs from far tend to be more effective as they try and confront the problem before it goes out of hand. One major symptom of conflict is dysfunctional meetings (Hart, 2018). It is such that the staff meeting always ends up being gripe sessions rather than brainstorming. In that case, the staff always find a reason to blame each other rather than developing ways to ensure improvements. In the event where during the meeting there are always people who seem to dominate the conversations and others appear annoyed means that it will be hard to reach a conclusion.

Productivity slowdowns is also a symptom of the conflict. The work environment matters a lot to the staff and the cases of longer shifts for nurses will automatically be a turnoff hence the reason for less productivity and efficiency of their services (Hart, 2018). There is less focus on their work. If there is a decline in the productivity of workers and their general output, it is important to try and pinpoint where it all started because it is a symptom of conflicts in the healthcare units.

Loss of trust especially from the patients is a symptom for disagreements. Similarly, when situations are repetitive, it means that there is a bigger issue. Inappropriate communications, especially in an area like healthcare centers which requires total professionalism, is an indicator that something is about to blow up very soon.

Anything That Has Been Done to Resolve the Conflict

Leaders have tried to adopt a style where there is proper management of symptoms before they blow up. They have provided good working environments which minimize the potential for conflicts within the organization. In that case, the staff will be more comfortable to work in areas where they have the recommended shift times where they will offer their utmost hence more efficiency (Saeed et al. 2014). Leaders also need to have the ability to lead across cultures especially where diversity is a major problem. In that case, they are required to be culturally intelligent because it can be used to determine the preferred style of conflict management.

The leaders have encouraged workers to work on the communication skills which is a primary cause of conflicts. The staff needs to have the ability to express themselves clearly which will allow them to say what is in their minds an get to deliver their points across. Leaders should teach that "a problem well-stated is a problem half-solved" (Saeed et al. 2014). Similarly, the appropriate style of leadership should teach that as an institution, conflicts cannot be avoided but can be resolve and minimized. Thus, when they come through, it is necessary that they deal with the situation. If they ignore it, there are chances that it will lead to increased stress and also unresolved feelings of hanger, hostility, and resentment towards others. It is important to think it through and seek feedback on the way forward. Nurses and physicians have also embraced the art of apologizing when it is appropriate which shows that they are aware of their own part of creating the conflict.

Analysis of Conflicts in Healthcare Centers

A Strategy To Resolve Conflicts

My strategy is training the healthcare staff to recognize and manage conflicts with patients and families. There is a need to balance assertiveness and cooperation in healthcare. It is inclusive of the future facets if collaboration, competition accommodation, and compromise among others. Training staff is ideal in ensuring that both parties are aware of the best intervention when a conflict arises. Leadership in the units should provide for management of conflicts through training (Forbat et al., 2017). The constituents of training include the core mechanism to change the way clinicians respond to potential symptoms for conflicts especially when the information gathered is useful after training.

The content of the training will be developed from the past issues that have been witnessed in the hospital as it will give an understanding of the causes of the particular disagreement, the impacts and the level of severity when it comes to the healthcare setting. The training will work on helping the clinicians understand how to assess the conflict, identify the symptoms, the underlying causes as well as other descriptions that will make them comprehend situations (Forbat et al., 2017). Thus, the training will provide adequate information on the factors that trigger conflicts between the health professionals and parents and the ways of spotting the warning signs. Training will teach skills to help staff decrease the instances of conflicts and there will also be the inclusion of simulation exercises which will be designed to encourage the staff to empathize with parents and families.

The steps that will be used in the training will include first clarifying the disagreement by describing the kind of needs that are not being met hence a mutual understanding of the particular source. The next step is to try and establish a common goal because working towards a commonality helps to ensure that there is truthful participation (Forbat et al., 2017). There will be a discussion on the ways to meet the common goal and then determine the barriers that may prevent the solution. It will be now easier to agree on the best way to resolve the conflict and so determine the responsibilities of all parties in the resolution.

The sessions will be in a time frame of 4 hours which will involve multidisciplinary groups of 15 people in 12 months. They will begin with opportunities for the participants to discuss any kind of conflicts that they have encountered with a patient and focus more on the impact of this conflict in the thoughts and emotions that they experienced. The participants will include clinical nurses, managers, matrons, therapists, administrators and consultants among others. There will be the use of questionnaires and surveys for the staff group to give their responses. The training will help to make sure that proper conflict management skills are taught to healthcare professionals (Forbat et al., 2017).

Barriers to Overcome

One barrier to overcome is cultural diversity in that the training will teach how to deal with issues of communication between the staff and the patients. It is important to learn a few key phrases to be able to communicate effectively with patients. It will result in effective functioning as it is necessary that employees understand the needs of the patients and families. Similarly, it will be necessary to learn about the culture of the staff so that training is made easier. During the training, I will make sure that I promote the appreciation of cultural differences by being more accommodating in the sessions.

The cost of training is also a barrier to effective learning. The simulation sessions will require more resources since there is a need to practically depict how conflicts have a negative impact on the entire organization and could lead to a bad public picture (Forbat et al., 2017). Similarly, getting the right trainers for the sessions also requires quite an amount to pay them hence an increase in the expenses. However, the result of the sessions will be worth the money spent. A relation to cost is the issue of disrupting which is more so caused by the consultants.

It is also difficult to work with the busy schedules of the employees. A four-hour session is quite a lot of time especially because there are patients waiting to receive care at the institution. The entire staff has to be at work the entire time hence time constraints will be a barrier to overcome in training. It is important to have the training done with a lot of conveniences such that specific information will be available when it is needed. The training will be a form of searching for a precise piece of knowledge that will...