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Welcome, today we are going to talk a little about collaboration and conflict.
Let's start off with collaboration.
First of all, what is it, and why is it important to us?
The Merriam Webster defines collaboration as,
"working with another person or group in order to achieve or do something".
It also refers to it as,
"giving help to an enemy who has invaded your country during war",
but we're not talking about treason today,
so let's leave that one off the list.
Now, collaboration is used both in education as well as the work force in nursing.
In education, it is referred to as collaborative learning.
Now what it allows us to do is enhance learning, teamwork, knowledge,
communication, relate to real world work settings.
It also helps limit our lecture time.
Some good examples of this would be group work,
case studies, and on the job training such as our clinical placements.
Now in the work environment, nurses refer to collaboration as
a "multi-disciplinary approach" which focuses on
the client, nurse, physician as well as
the relationship with other health care providers.
Now one of the nice things about this
is that it allows us to give a nice client-centred care.
It also improves cooperation, adherence the care plans
not only by the patient but their health care providers,
leads to more positive outcomes,
patient empowerment and autonomy,
it allows for informed decisions and a greater quality of care,
all of which can reduce costs
by allowing the patient to get out of the hospital sooner.
Now we can enhance collaboration through
knowledge, being open to different points of view,
sharing of information and communication with our team mates.
We can do this by trusting other members,
we can manage conflict as it arises,
and by properly motivating every member of the team.
Now main challenges to collaboration are going to be communication,
time management,
participation by all group members,
or a lack of participation by all group members,
the amount of trust we have in our teammate,
the territorial nature of our jobs,
a resistance to change,
lack of skills or knowledge,
we can manage conflicts as it arises.
Now effective groups will be able to tolerate differences,
resolve disagreements, possess clearly identified roles and responsibilities,
and will work together to achieve their goals.
Now, in an ideal situation you will have a group of people coming together
to form one group with one or more common goals and objectives.
If for one reason or another, you aren't able to come together,
you will end up in a situation with possible conflict.
Now conflict is defined as
a struggle for power, property, etc…
a strong disagreement between people or groups that can result in angry arguments,
or a difference that prevents agreement, so a disagreement between ideas, feelings, etc…
Sources of conflict include
power struggles, different views and opinions between teammates,
stress, a lack of proper resources, competition,
leadership styles, and conflicting goals.
Now conflict has the ability to stop or affect
forward progress of the group.
It can lead to violence.
It can also impact patient safety in the long run.
Strangely enough, conflict is not always an evil thing.
Some of the benefits to conflict include
the fact that it stimulates creative thoughts and ideas,
it encourages growth and progress within the team,
it can provide the motivation and energy needed to achieve your goals,
and it allows for reflection and review within the group setting.
Some of the various styles of conflict management include
competition,
which is useful in time sensitive situations;
however,
it does have the negative effect of forcing both a winner and loser in team settings.
Avoidance
is effective only in short term situations
until additional information is sought to clarify the root of the issue
allowing you to tackle it head on.
Accommodation
is where someone gives into the demands of another group or person,
this can allow the team for progress but eventually
someone ends up losing in the long run.
Compromise, on the other hand,
is where all parties meet in the middle through negotiation.
And then finally,
we've got collaboration,
where all parties work together towards
the achievement of a single goal. Conflict is
identified and a solution is sought out to the benefits of all parties.
Now if we wanted to manage conflict,
we can do this through education
such as conflict resolution, teamwork, and leadership.
We can try varying our approach to people as well as
different conflict resolution techniques.
With early identification,
it can help us treat the cause and not the symptoms of the conflict,
through communication
such as the use of “I” statements, and
remember one last thing,
that an agreement is not a prerequisite to managing conflict,
only understanding the differences between the parties is.
Now I hope you enjoyed that brief little review.
Further review material is available online in the form of
flashcards, quizzes, and even some practice scenarios.
Happy studying!