How Team Concepts Work In The Medical Field Of Nursing

How Team Concepts Work In The Medical Field Of Nursing

Introduction

The nursing profession is one that is based on collaborative relationships with both colleagues and patients. It requires individuals to work closely with others with varying backgrounds or cultures. Individuals can hold diverse values, potentially affecting these relationships, which may result in conflict. Good communication or conflict resolution skills can decrease the risk of conflict. It is commonplace for organizations today to work in teams. Whether they be leader-driven teams or self-directed teams; the hope is that productivity, creativity, and results will be greater in a team environment. While this is a proven approach, any time you bring together people from differing backgrounds and experiences, it is inevitable that conflict will occur. Many people and organizations view conflict as a negative, or something to be avoided. Yet conflict, differences, or disagreements are a natural result of people working together. Also, without conflict, teams can become complacent and not perform at optimum levels. The challenge then becomes, how should the team be prepared for this stage of their existence, and how should the team leader facilitate through it?

Conflict Resolution

“Conflict is neither good, nor bad, it just is,” (Marshall, 2006). It can occur at anytime and in any place, originating between two individuals or groups when there is a disagreement or difference in their values, attitudes, needs, or expectations (Conerly, 2004), miscommunication or lack of information (Marshall, 2006). Over time individuals learn how to respond to conflict, making it an unconscious process. Dealing with conflict properly requires the individual to develop conflict resolution skills. This is a conscious effort to control the individuals' behavior of poor communication (Conerly, 2004).

A therapeutic nurse-patient relationship is the foundation of nursing care. It contributes to both the patients' well-being and their health. Conflict can impede these collaborative relationships by not allowing the nurse to fully support the patient in attaining his or her health goals (CNO, 2006). It requires individuals to work closely with others who have varying backgrounds or cultures and, hold diverse values that can potentially result in conflict. Good communication or conflict resolution skills can decrease the risk of conflict.

Healthcare organizations are dramatically changing the way they operate due to initiatives to increase productivity and the quality of services provided. These initiatives are forcing hospitals to break down traditional hierarchal structures and move toward a team-managed environment. As a result, nurses no longer function on nursing units in a typical subordinate role, but are finding themselves in new roles. Nurses are participating members of a multidisciplinary team improving the overall delivery of care (Baker, 1995).

Cultural diversity, combined with the stress of providing quality care, often results in conflict (Pettrey, 2003). According to the New York State Nurses Association (2005), unresolved conflict leads to barriers for employees, teams, organizational growth, and productivity, which results in a cultural breakdown within the organization. Conflict is a natural phenomenon (Kelly, 2006), and an inevitable aspect of life (Kemp-Longmore, ...