[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?

[Stephanie]

A conflict that I was involved in at work was when the other members of the team were making significant changes to are documentation templates without advising anyone of these changes. This then affected the whole team who were trying to document. The resolution technique that would have helped our conflict would have been Collaborating. Instead of just one person making changes to suit there documentation needs I feel as a team we could have worked on documentation together and collaborated on what would work best for everyone while ensuring all appropriate means of documentation were met.

The conflict did resolve as my head of the department had to confront the team to not making any changes unless discussed with are director and was approved by them and it must be communicated with the rest of the team to ensure everyone is aware of these changes.

[Donna]

I agree with your perspective, Stephanie. Effective collaboration and communication are essential when implementing documentation changes to ensure accuracy across the team. It’s good to see that clear protocols were established to prevent similar conflicts in the future.

[Donna]

A conflict I experienced at work happened during a busy shift when some of my colleagues and I disagreed about the patient care assignments. A few team members felt that the workload was not fairly distributed, which created tension and affected our team communication. The collaborating resolution technique would have been most effective, as it encourages open discussion, mutual understanding, and shared problem-solving among staff. Eventually, the issue was resolved through a team huddle led by the charge nurse, where concerns were voiced and agree on a fair assignment plan moving forward.

[Kayla]

Hi Donna,
Thanks for sharing, thats a great way that the conflict was resolved, i often fined the collaborating technique to be very useful!

[Anastasia]

Thank you for sharing. I had a similar experience where some assignments were heavier than others and it was always the same people getting the heavier caseload. they ended collaborating and came up with a scoring system to determine the acuity of the client and started dividing the assignments up more fairly.

[Jessica]

A conflict I experienced at work occurred over a disagreement with the way we were conducting audits on our inpatient units. We had recently hired two new staff members which introduced new ideas and opinions regarding our current auditing process. The resolution technique that would have helped in the situation is collaboration. Although this technique is more time consuming, it would ensure all opinions and ideas were taken into consideration to create an efficient and reliable audit process.

The conflict did get resolved. Our ultimate goal in infection prevention and control is to prevent and control infections. We kept this goal in mind while collaborating to come up with the best possible solution. If things did not work out, we had the opportunity to re-evaluate and changes things as required. The nice thing is this technique does not require permanent, and allows for reassessment of conflict for ongoing success.

[Katherine]

I really like how you highlighted collaboration and keeping the shared goal in mind. Involving everyone’s ideas, especially with new staff, can strengthen the process and improve outcomes. I also agree that the flexibility to reassess makes this approach effective, turning conflict into an opportunity for better teamwork and solutions.

[Kayla]

Back when i worked in hospital, there was a situation with a client where the client was still high risk and the dr just wanted to disharge them home, I attempted to speak to the dr and advocate for a longer admission but the dr was very reactive and defensive, so the converwsation did not go far and I had to escelate it to my manager, the client ended up not being disharged yet.

I believe in this situation, collaboration would have been a good technique if that dr was open to collaborating, but unfortunately theu were not

[Stephanie]

Hi Kayla! I have also been in a similar situation as well, its very hard when one person is closed off and not open to hearing your concerns. Great job for advocating for your patient!

[Katherine]

I experienced a conflict with a colleague around follow-up responsibilities for shared clients. I started to feel frustrated because I noticed certain complex client tasks were consistently landing on my plate, while my colleague felt I was checking in too often about their progress. The tension made it harder to communicate openly during team meetings, and I could tell it was starting to impact collaboration.

Looking back, I think the collaborating conflict resolution technique would have been the best approach. At the time, we were both stuck in a bit of a “competing” mindset — trying to justify our own perspectives. If we had slowed down and focused on our shared goal of supporting clients effectively, we could have found a solution that met both of our needs. Open communication, active listening, and clarifying expectations together might have prevented the frustration from building up.

Eventually, our manager helped mediate a quick discussion where responsibilities were redistributed more evenly, and we agreed on clearer ways to communicate about client follow-ups. The situation did get resolved, but it also taught me how valuable early collaboration and transparency are in preventing small issues from becoming bigger conflicts.

[Anastasia]

While working a day shift in the hospital, we were severely short-staffed, and I was assigned five patients. Three of my patients’ conditions were rapidly declining — all required blood transfusions and IV fluids, which were outside of my scope of practice. I escalated my concerns to the charge nurse, who was a new graduate. Instead of offering support or guidance, he dismissed me, saying, “What do you want me to do about it?” while continuing to look at his phone. I then escalated the situation to management, who immediately intervened and helped manage the patients. Later, the charge nurse confronted me with an attitude and called me a “baby.”

Resolution Technique:
The conflict might have been better managed by collaborating. If the charge nurse had taken the time to listen to my concerns, acknowledge the urgency, and worked together to find solutions, the tension and escalation could have been avoided. Effective communication and mutual respect are key in high-pressure healthcare environments, especially when patient safety is at risk.

Resolution Outcome:
The conflict was eventually resolved through formal channels. I reported the incident to HR, and after further investigation, the charge nurse was terminated due to multiple complaints from staff. Although it was a difficult experience, it reinforced the importance of advocating for patients and maintaining professionalism even in stressful situations.

[Amit Kaur]

Hello Anastasia
I am sorry that you had to go through this situation.I believe,even though the charge nurse was a new graduate,still able to support. RNs learn more about leadership and support at their academic level.That’s why they get this position without any clinical experience.

[CHUNYAN]

In my role as a RPN in long term care , I often supervise my PSW team on my floor. One common source of conflict I have experienced is related to team work and workload distribution .Some PSW work very independently– once they finish their own assignment, they leave instead of helping others. This behavior creates frustration among the rest of the team, who feel unsupported and overworked. As a result tension builds ,and communication between team members strained. As the team leader on the floor , I stepped into address the issue. I reminded everyone that effective teamwork is essential to provide quality care for our residents. .I encourage open commination and gave each PSW a chance to share their perspective . I used a collaborative conflict resolution technique. , which focus on listening to both sides , identifying the root of the problem and finding a mutually beneficial solution. I also emphasized that everyone’s contribution affects the entire team and ultimately the residents. well= being

[Amit Kaur]

One of my co-worker who works in the day shift as RPN not able to manage her work load .She was always late to hand over at shift exchange,did not finish documentation in PCC,no verbal report on time.
So how can we start follow ups on the residents care ? Sometimes PSW asks resident requested PRN medication.
But I do not have cart/med keys and information. Sometimes myself and other RPNs offered assistance to collaborate. She refused saying you do not know,I have to do this. She believed her shift was only busy not other shifts as other nurses were able to finish on time, only late on some occasions. She started writing orders in the communication book for other nurses, nights to do this,evenings to do this etc. which was not her scope of practice.
Here I tried avoiding techniques .She started putting orders in the PCC. Nurses to do this,that.

Finally I brought it into my supervisor’s attention. Who reminded her scope of practice and collaborate with team members when assistance is available and maintaining the professionalism.

[CHUNYAN]

Hello Kayla
I believed this situation happened in my workplace. I am working in the long term care some tines our resident send back from hospital while they are not well enough to come back. We have to call our ON- CALL doctor to assess resident the solution is we have to sent them back to hospital again. This conflict create more risk of resident and may delay the treatment. I am so happy you brought this issue up and after collaborating , both sides working together and turn out better result.

[Author]

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