Week 5 discussion
DQ1 Conflict at the
Office Discussion
You are a family nurse practitioner working in an outpatient
primary care office of a large hospital system. The practice has been operating
for over 15 years, and many of the administrative and clinical staff were hired
when the practice opened. You have been in the practice for less than 3 months.
In that short amount of time, you have witnessed several of the clinical staff
engaging in heated arguments with each other, sometimes in patient areas. You
overhear an argument occurring today between two staff. You pick up a patient’s
chart and notice a very low blood pressure that the medical assistant failed to
notify you about. When you confront the MA, she states that she was going to
report the vital signs to you when she became engaged in the heated argument
you overheard and forgot to notify you.
Unfortunately, this pattern of behavior is not unusual in
this practice. Working with staff who cannot cooperate effectively can
negatively influence your ability to spend time with patients, can impede the
flow of patients through the office, and could impact patient safety.
Discussion Question:
What is your response to the medical assistant? What actions
do you take to redirect the flow away from arguments and back to patient care?
Provide rationales and evidence to support your decisions.
DQ2 Conflict
Resolution Strategies Discussion
Leadership is not random. It is multifaceted and must be
communicated as a stated plan to effect a change. Organizational leaders
provide a vision and move others toward a common goal. This vision also
reinforces the importance of teamwork in the workplace.
According to Buppert (2015), quality improvement and patient
safety are inextricably intertwined. A work environment that supports teamwork
and respect for other people is essential to promote patient safety and quality
of care. Unprofessional behavior is disruptive and adversely impacts patient
and staff satisfaction, the recruitment and retention of healthcare
professionals, communication, teamwork and undermines a culture of safety.
Unprofessional behavior is therefore unacceptable.
Discussion Question:
In this scenario, what evidence-based organizational
strategies and management skills might you employ to resolve co-worker
conflict? Reflect on conflict resolution strategies specifically for
healthcare. How does teamwork increase patient safety? Provide evidence and
rationales to support your decisions. Provide evidence and rationale to support
your decisions.
