A time where I was involved in a work conflict that was productive was when I first began my role in primary care. The previous staff had been administering medication from pt. vials that had been opened more the 30days. As per monograph for this medication after 30 days the medication itself can loose its potency and not be as affective for future doses. There was a conflict that arise as patients were not use to having to bring in medication more frequently, more refills for prescriptions needed to be sent for the patients by primary care providers and Older staff were not open to change from new staff members. Overall it better improved the care of the patients and they are now happy and excepting of the change knowing there dose of medication can be more effective this way.

A productive conflict I experienced at work happened when my team and I disagreed about how to handle medication error documentation. Some of my colleagues felt that only major errors should be reported, while I believed that even near-misses needed to be documented to improve patient safety. At first the discussion felt intense, and I was a bit nervous to voice my opinion. However, after an open and respectful conversation during our staff meeting, we realized that everyone shared the same goal which is to prevent harm and promote safe practice. Together, we developed a clearer protocol requiring all medication incidents to be reported and reviewed.
This experience taught me that healthy conflict, when handled constructively, can lead to positive change and stronger teamwork.

A productive conflict that I was involved in had been ongoing for the past 3 years.
When I began my role in infection control, I took on the responsibility of assessing and organizing flu vaccines for our longer stay patients on our post acute units. Our organization lacked a policy or medical directive so the process was time consuming. I had to assess Patients, gather consents from the Patients/SDMs, request the order from the doctor, communicate with pharmacy and administer the vaccines. This process took days or even weeks to accomplish on top of my daily routines. I had been advocating for a medical directive or a more organized process over the past few years but often more important and urgent matters arose and the vaccine program was left on the back burner. Finally, this year the organization was able to create a more efficient process that does not require IPACs involvement. Pharmacy and the unit Nurses are responsible for the process and it appears to be going much smoother. Although it took some time, the conflict was finally addressed and a more effective solution was established.

A productive conflict i have been involed with would be one regarding the careplan of a client. It was a veru unwell difficult client that the team was at a loss on, no one could agree on how to deal with client and what their careplan should be. So we all had an open discussion and listened to each others ideas and opinions and were able to come to an agreement on the clients careplan and what approach would be best for the client.

I experienced a conflict that turned out to be productive. Our team was reviewing how to coordinate community visits for a complex client. I felt we needed more structured communication and documentation, while a nurse on the team believed the current process worked fine. At first, our discussion was tense because we both felt strongly about our perspectives.

Instead of avoiding the disagreement, we brought it forward during a team meeting. With support from our manager, we were able to focus on improving the process rather than proving a point. The open discussion led to a new system that balanced structure with flexibility, ultimately improving client coordination and reducing overlap.

This experience reflected what Lencioni (2002, 2005) describes as productive conflict — open debate around ideas that strengthen a team. It also supports Kelly and Crawford’s (2012) view that conflict, when handled constructively, can lead to innovation, better communication, and stronger teamwork.