Interdisciplinary Conflict - Poor Communication

Description

A 27-year-old inpatient has been at the hospital with a fractured leg for the past 4 weeks. A new nurse, Dan, is assigned to him. Every shift, the patient is complaining of pain and frequently request narcotic medications for relief. He is often seen talking on his phone laughing and smiling when alone in his room but quickly changes his demeanor and presents to be in pain when Nurse 1 enters the room. However, completing a session with two social workers, Shoneka and Shanice, the patient is found to be drowsy and accidentally spills his belongings including medications on the ground on his way out. Both social workers looked at each other very alarmed and the patient states his nurse gave it to him. The social workers conversed with one of the nurses on the unit, Joanna, to confirm who his nurse is. The social workers also told Joanna what they found out about the patient earlier. Joanna is not surprised and holds a bias opinion on how “new nurses” are reckless and inexperienced. Joanna reported to Occupational Health and Safety immediately as it is a safety concern, while Shoneka & Shanice reports it directly to their manager, Lori. Joanna accuses Dan of being incompetent by not doing his proper pain management. A meeting is held with the social workers, nurses and Occupational Health and Safety. The manager has a meeting with everyone in the room, but the situation escalates when the social workers and Joanna layout different views and different opinions. The manager de-escalates the conflict by separating all disciplines (everyone) and speaks to each of them individually one at a time. After hearing everyone’s thoughts and concerns, she brings all disciplines back together and resolves the conflict using effective communication, understanding, and negotiating strategies.