Multidisciplinary Conflict Resolution: Healthcare

Description

Anakin is admitted to the hospital after attempted suicide. He is placed in the Psych Ward for recovery. During a routine check in from their assigned social worker, Crisis Intervention techniques are discussed. Anakin expresses their wish to be treated within their Indigenous cultural practices and wants to avoid taking prescription medication. The two come to an agreement that antidepressants will not be utilized for the time being. Fifteen minutes later the nurse enters to give medication and makes a stereotypical remark. She mumbles, “his kind is always in here for the same reason, there’s no point in helping them,” not realizing the patient would hear. Anakin reacts to her comment aggressively “why don’t you say that to my face?”, and became increasingly agitated when the nurse said, “you should have taken your antidepressants medication, you wouldn’t be trying to hurt yourself if you did”. After hearing shouts and the nurse repeatedly saying “okay calm down”, a few other nurses entered the room to find Anakin yelling profanities and was trying to get out of the bed with the intention to hurt the nurse. The nurses panicked and physically restrained and administered a sedative to the patient under the guise that the patient was trying to harm the nurse. The social worker returns to check on Anakin after hearing about the altercation. She immediately questions the nurse for her choice of utilizing a sedative, expressing that Crisis Intervention, specifically grounding techniques, would have been a better way to resolve the situation. The nurse and the social worker get into an argument based on a difference of opinion, and the social worker expresses that the nurse is discriminating against Anakin. The nurse defended by saying it would be better for the patient to manage their mood with medications and retraining them was the best method in the moment. Management is notified about the situation and proceeds to conduct mediation with the two parties. After coming to a resolution, as a mandatory safety measure, public health and safety is notified and reviews the healthcare policies with the staff for future best practices.