Workplace conflicts can happen in any field. Agency nursing is not an exception. As a nurse, you have to understand that some conflicts may be inevitable. In some cases, the challenging environment of hospitals leads to conflicts for nurses. Sometimes, these conflicts may also happen with the patients or carers.
When moving from one assignment to another, it helps if you understand the nature of disagreements and how to deal with them. Here’s a guide you may follow.
What Causes Workplace Conflicts for Agency Nurses?
While conflicts can happen for a variety of reasons, it’s easier to resolve the issue if you understand the underlying cause of conflict. Whether you work as an A&E nurse, RGN, or ICU nurse, you will come across many scenarios leading to such outcomes.
When you work with the best nursing agency in London, you can count on their support, as well, to resolve the issues. But, knowing about the probable reasons is the first step to resolution. So, here are some significant causes of workplace issues or disagreements for agency nurses.
Conflict of Personal Values
Sometimes, you work in a setting where nurses from different ethnicities, cultures, or regions work together. In such circumstances, there may be adjustment issues or struggles for power. These factors may affect the overall working environment.
Conflict of Work Delegation
The workload on agency nurses can be intense at some times. Every healthcare setting has a unique leadership pattern or nursing team structure leading to disagreements, conflicts, or arguments with your peers. According to NHS, differences of views, ideas, or opinions can lead to these task conflicts.
Conflicts Due to Communications or Lack Thereof
Whether there’s a misunderstanding or misinterpretation of facts, gaps in communications can cause conflicts at your workplace. The results are not only destructive, but they also lead to incompatibility in relationships.
What Are the Effects of Workplace Conflicts?
If you work in an NHS hospital or private care setting, it’s always essential to understand the outcomes of workplace conflicts on your career and personal life. Remember, any issues at your workplace can cause a dip in your performance. It may create a challenging work environment, and ultimately you may feel stressed. And when you’re stressed, it affects the quality of care you provide to the patients. Also, such conflicts result in a lack of job satisfaction.
How Can You Manage Workplace Conflict as an Agency Nurse?
NHS Improvement recommends that you can prevent conflict from escalation by recognising the early signs and nipping these issues in the bud. Every person has a different response to such situations. So, it can be hard to ascertain the best or the worst ways to deal with them.
While few nurses prefer avoiding the issues, others may feel inclined to tolerate the conflict to maintain peace. Any best nursing agency in London will recommend tackling them with a positive attitude.
Keep a constructive approach to diffuse the tension and find the best solution. Here are some ideas that may help.
Don’t Let the Situation Get Worse
If you want to prevent the conflicts from getting worse, find underlying causes at work and the context of conflict. When you understand these factors, you can easily avoid the escalation of the problem. When you’re in the middle of this conflict, you can bring someone you trust to resolve the issue.
Accept the Situation
There’s no point denying an apparent conflict brewing in your workplace. In fact, acknowledging a problem is a concrete step in solving it. Whether your struggle with other medical staff or patients, show your intent of finding a middle ground and reassure the other party that you’re willing to work it out.
Make a Checklist
You may not realise, but a checklist can be a solid step taken in the right direction for resolving a conflict. Make a list of do’s and don’ts to resolve the issue. Set a timeframe to iron out the problems and work to cool down the opposing party before the debate heats up. |never try to wash this dirty linen in public. It can be humiliating for all parties involved.
Set the Expectations
With proper preparations, you can avoid workplace conflicts altogether. It will help if you create boundaries and expectations before joining a facility as an agency nurse. Ask your nursing agency to provide the job description and set realistic expectations accordingly.
Resort to Active Listening
A perfect body language and active listening are two stellar tools to resolve many conflicts at your workplace. Whether you are in the thick of the struggle or managing the conflict, among others, lend your ears for listening to and understanding the underlying causes.
In addition, different people can perceive a conflict in different ways. While some people enjoy a heated discussion, others prefer a peaceful resolution. Irrespective of your inclination, be calm when dealing with sensitive issues at your workplace to become a successful agency nurse.
