The Importance Of Conflict Resolution In Healthcare

Patient safety depends on collaboration among healthcare professionals and their ability to work as a team. Thus, it is no surprise the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) project included teamwork and collaboration as core competencies to ensure patients receive high-quality care (QSEN, 2018). The inability of healthcare professionals to collaborate and work together results in poor patient outcomes, duplicate therapies, higher cost of care, and decreased patient satisfaction. In fact, the Joint Commission found 70% of major medical errors to be the result of ineffective collaboration among healthcare professionals (Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, 2005). Therefore, it is imperative every leader in

Conflict can arise from a variety of means, within someone, between two people, or a group of people (Disch, 2017). However, if conflict is unresolved, it can breakdown communication, decrease team performance, create a toxic work environment, and ultimately decrease patient’s quality of care (Disch, 2017; Johansen, 2012). A common, yet ineffective resolution to conflict in healthcare is avoidance. This is most commonly seen between a physician and a nurse, when the nurse hesitates to question a physician, as he/she holds the “authority” (Disch, 2017). Although, if the conflict is not properly addressed, the avoidance behavior will create added stress on the nurse and potentially place the patient(s) at harm (Johansen, 2012). The Joint Commission published a Sentinel Event Alert in 2008, alerting the healthcare community that poor communication, ineffective teamwork, and poor management skills are top contributors to sentinel events (Joint Commission,

However, patients and their families are very important, but often overlooked team members (Disch, 2017). In my current practice as a staff nurse, I try to make every effort to include the patient’s in the development and execution of their treatment plan. However, I am not always good about ensuring the families are updated in the waiting room. Our current policy in the emergency department is to only allow two visitors at a time, however they are allowed to rotate as often as they wish. In my future practice as an APRN, I will recognize the patient and their family’s as essential team members. Therefore, I will provide patient centered care to ensure the patients treatment plan reflects their preferences and values (Disch, 2017). It is through this