[Sharon]

Think of a conflict you were involved in at work. Provide a brief overview of your conflict. What resolution technique would have helped in your situation? Did the conflict ever get resolved and if so, how?

[Cheryl]

I was involved in a conflict where a supervisory staff had an extreme distaste for a PSW. The PSW had went to her with a reasonable request and the supervisory staff dismissed her request based on “not wanting to give in to her.” Sat down with the supervisor and set aside the fact the she did not “like” the staff and reviewed the initial request that was not unreasonable. After realizing that she could not deny the request she went ahead and did the right thing with this staff. We met again afterwards and reinforced that doing the right thing should feel good and she agreed. Also met with the supervisor and the staff to “air out their grievances” in a non-judgmental and productive manner with the goal of reaching some resolution. This was very successful and the 2 staff actually joke together and have much better rapport. It was very uncomfortable to go through but very worth it in the end.

[Tammy]

my lead co worker are fairly new at working side by side. there is a generational gap along with different areas of expertise. we both felt like there was not a lot of trust and follow through. we met together and admitted we were both struggling working along side each other. we each spoke of our concerns, where we struggled and both had ideas on improvement on our communication strategies. we both could see where each other was coming from. it helped alot.

[Marion Catherine]

Hi Tammy, it is challenging to work with inter-generational team members! In reading your post, I felt that there was a sincere willingness to learn from each other. This I think is the key to any challenging situation and being willing to accept the other’s point of view and experience speaks volumes to professionalism. Albeit, mutual respect and understanding is not always an easy thing to get to.

[Shea]

Hello,

It sounds like you both handled the situation really well by being honest and open. I can relate—acknowledging struggles and actively listening to each other’s perspectives really helps build trust and improves teamwork. It’s great that you came up with communication strategies together and were able to understand where each other was coming from.

[Marion Catherine]

As a fairly new (1.6 months) RPN, I work with some very seasoned PSW’s who know the unit well and keep it running on time. I had asked one PSW in particular to assist me with some care that a resident needed. The PSW said that wasn’t her assigned resident and said she was too busy with her own work to help out. The care had to wait because a 2-person transfer was required.

At the break, I asked this PSW if there was an unspoken code among the PSWs on the unit that they would not interfere with each others’ residents. She said no they work as a team. Following up on her earlier comments I asked her to explain why she said what she did. She got upset and said I am on my break.
I spoke with the RN who also was experienced with this unit and asked for their advice. I was informed that this resident in the past had a responsive behaviour when receiving care and this PSW was injured.
Knowing this background, I re-approached the PSW, advised her that I had consulted with the RN who advised me of the history. I expressed my understanding of her reluctance to assist with this resident’s care and asked her that if there was ever another situation that she was uncomfortable with to please let me know right away.
The conflict was resolved by further inquiry with the RN.

[Jaswinder]

Thanks Marion sharing your experience.
Your situation shows how miscommunication occur in busy nursing environment. Initially, it seemed like PSW was unhelpful but later it became clear there was a safety concern behind her refusal to help. In my opinion, this situation shows how important to ask questions and avoid making snap judgements. In my opinion, you handled the situation very well by discussing the situation with RN and then politely approaching the PSW. This helped resolve the conflict with clear understanding, effective communication and teamwork.

[Jaswinder]

At my work during a busy shift I had a conflict with one of my colleague regarding patient assignment. I felt that assignment was unfair because I had more ill patients while my colleague believed that assigning was already done fairly. It was hard for us to talk to each other because we both were upset. We discussed the problem with in charge nurse using simple and clear language like SBAR and worked with the in charge nurse to divide up the work it would have been helpful. Later we said sorry to one another and worked as a team, prioritizing the patient needs ahead even if it was uncomfortable for us to do so.

[Shea]

I once had a conflict at work where a coworker and I disagreed on how to prioritize patient care tasks during a busy shift. We both felt our approach was the most effective, which led to tension and miscommunication. I think using active listening and collaborative problem solving would have helped us better understand each other’s perspective and find a compromise. Eventually, the conflict was resolved after we sat down, discussed our concerns openly, and agreed on a shared plan for task management moving forward.

[Sharon]

I had a conflict at work where two PSW’s were upset because they believed that they were assigned the two most difficult clients. It was one of those situations where we had medically fragile clients and had a mix of in house and agency staff so I had no other choice. I explained to them that I do understand their concerns however our current clients are medically fragile and require close supervision, attention and care throughout the day. Since our in house PSW’S were already familiar with the care/needs of each of these clients it makes the most sense. I explained the situations and circumstances to them, even letting them know that this is also a complement to them in that I have the utmost trust and believe that they are competent in handling the clients need. They both understood my reasoning and agreed that it was best for the clients safety. The goal is for the clients to receive effective ,quality and enhanced care for the duration of their stay. It was a good collaborative effort with all parties involve working together to find a solution that we were all comfortable with.

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