Interpersonal conflicts are an integral and inevitable part of our lives; as such I feel that it is imperative that we learn how to resolve such conflicts. This would enhance not only our living, social but working environments. I quote one situation from personal experience which could have ended differently had the conflict been resolved appropriately.
In an internship stint at a private hospital, I was assisting a team of 14 doctors and nurses in a specialist clinic. One day, one of the doctors (Dr. Z) buzzed me into his office and asked for his nurse (Nurse Z) to perform a neurology test on one of his patients. I replied that Nurse Z had already left for the day as it was nearing closing hours and she had applied to leave early prior. Dr. Z insisted that I either call Nurse Z back to the clinic or engage the services of another nurse whom he had worked with before.
I was stuck in a rather bad place. I personally found it unreasonable to call Nurse Z back and the other nurse Dr. Z suggested was engaged in another procedure and could not be called away. Furthermore, she served primarily under another division of the hospital so her priorities did not lie with us. I consulted with the senior nurse (Nurse A) who suggested explaining the circumstances to Dr. Z and asking him to perform the procedure on his own. Dr. Z refused to accept this explanation and insisted again that Nurse Z return to the clinic. Eventually, after much shouting and an intervention by Nurse A, Dr. Z performed the test on his own.
On hindsight, I believe this entire matter stemmed from miscommunication between Dr. Z and me. We also failed to understand the motivations behind the other party’s demands: Dr. Z required the services of Nurse Z as he had other duties to perform; it was not only unreasonable, but impossible for me to call Nurse Z back as I had no knowledge of her whereabouts and she could not be contacted by phone.
How would you resolve this situation had you been in the position of Dr. Z, me or Nurse A? (:
Hey amanda!
ReplyDeleteI think being in the situation you described and having faced those circumstances, you did the right thing by asking for the opinion of the more experienced Nurse A.
If I were to be in the shoes of Nurse A, however, I would have tried my best to avoid a shouting contest and instead focused on the root problem. Perhaps she could have done better by figuring out the exact reason why Dr Z was so adamant on Nurse Z being present for his procedure. If this reason was known, she would have been in a better position to suggest an alternative solution to the issue.
I feel that most of the time, when people act unreasonably, there is a core issue that needs to be addressed. Sometimes they are not even aware of these issues themselves so to resolve such conflicts we must make the effort to be more aware of others' emotions and where they are coming from. =]
Hey Amanda,
ReplyDeleteI think that you handled the situation properly, within your limits and to the best of your ability.
To answer your (sort of triple-barreled =P) question, I would have done more or less what you did if I was you.
However, I would like to think about Dr. Z's motivations a little more. Even though he had other more pressing matters to attend to, would performing the procedure himself throw him terribly off-schedule? Even if he HAD to have a nurse perform the test, I'm sure there were other nurses (other than the 2 he wanted) who were qualified to help. I think that he shouldn't have resorted to shouting, and that he should have tried to see things from other perspectives.
Also, did Nurse Z forget to tell Dr. Z that she was leaving early? Perhaps that was another source of confusion as well. Funny, isn't it? It seels like most of these issues could be resolved by more effective communication!
Hey Amanda,
ReplyDeleteIt can be difficult to communicate with someone of a higher authority at times. Sometimes, they might just want to have it their way thinking that they have the power to do so.
You consulting with Nurse A before making a decision was a wise choice, given the circumstances stated. However, I do not believe that the entire matter erupted because of the miscommunication you both had.
I feel that the communication system of that workplace should be reviewed. I find it quite unusual that such a test was conducted in a last minute way. Proper staffs should have been allocated in advance to handle the test.
However, it could also be due to the fact that it was closing hours that contributed to everyone's foul mood.