[Sharon]

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

[Katie]

When I think of any conflicts that have occurred over the years the ones I have seen have the best outcomes is when I first gave myself the time to step back and reassess the situation before engaging further. That cooling of period does wonders on both ends.

Another technique I have found helpful, especially when dealing with different members of the care team is to approach the situation as being grateful to what your other colleague can bring to the table. When you share the gratitude with them that generally changes the dynamitic and de escalates any tensions that have started to arise.

[Maame]

I recall a time at work were a conflict arised on the unit in which the manager had to step in. There was an resident in which he had an early doctor’s appointment so he had to be dressed and transported to the main lobby for wheeltrans to take him to his appointment. Wheeltrans expected pick up time was 7:15am, the psw that was assigned to him dressed him up I helped her transfer the resident into the wheelchair. The psw left him in the tv lounge because her shift is done at 7:00am which means now that morning shift staff are coming onto their shift they can take him downstairs to wait for wheeltrans.
While I was giving report I made sure to let the morning staff know firstly that this particular resident needs to be taken down to the lobby for wheeltrans to pick him up. The RN and psw assigned to him were upset because they felt like night shift should of done it. I then went to speak to the manager about the situation and how it isn’t fair the night psw that has 21 residents to provide care to should do all that plus get a resident ready for their appointment and take him down to the lobby. The manager decided to use the comprising method, the manager felt it was fair enough that the resident is dressed and transferred into wheelchair morning psw should bring him downstairs to the lobby.

[Jeanette]

Throughout my career I have seen conflict in the work place. I have had conflict with coworkers which I try to resolve by talking to the person directly. I was working in the Covid Assessment Centre it was September and the kids were going back to school and government said anyone including kids that were sick needed testing. It was so busy the line ups were down and around the building we were testing 700 people a day. Stress was high. I had a coworker who would purposely not take any children as she did not want to swab them. I agree it wasn’t fun but it was so frustrating to all of us who had to swab all the kids. One day I told her how I felt that it was not fair and she was not pulling her weight for the team. This nurse got so mad at me walked back to the mangers office and told her I was bullying her. The manager came to talk with me and I explained what had happened and her not wanting to swab children. The manager had us talk together and she would mediate using a collaborative approach. It worked well that we could talk with out someone being offended and walking away and we came to a resolution. She had a fear that she had to over come and with more training she did.

[Katie]

It is good to see you had resolution with this conflict. Its reassuring to see that the mediation process was effective. I think so many times we see things build up because no one is comfortable to speak up. But growth and connection in the work place comes from this type of scenario.

[Johanna]

Recently we had an issue on our unit with two female residents who formed a bond. One of the residents was very emotionally fragile, and would cry and make suicidal statements when the other resident was not around. We had already treated her low mood and screened her for depression, but these behaviors were still persisting. The two were so inseparable that the PSWs had difficulty providing care, as they both wanted to be in the washroom together, sleep in the same bed, etc.
The compromise we came up with was to have one resident wait in the bedroom while the other had care in the washroom with the door closed.
Some staff members expressed concerns about these residents not having their privacy respected and infringing on personal boundaries.
As a team, we took a collaborative approach and requested a BSO (Behavior Support Ontario) referral with the goal of assessing the situation and providing input on anything that could be done differently.
The situation is still being assessed, but the Social Worker who did the initial assessment spoke with the team and praised our efforts to support the friendship bond of these two residents. She stated that we were meeting the needs of both residents while not crossing any boundaries.
I learned from this experience to seek input from outside agencies when there is a question of something improper. Always be eager to learn from a situation.

[Jeanette]

Johann,
I enjoyed reading this. I like that everyone was involved in trying to come to a resolution and that you could use this as a learning tool!

[Author]

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