Melting Point

Description

This scenario takes place in the winter at the Lyndhurst Spinal Cord Rehabilitation Centre. This is the busiest time for this unit as there is an increase in the number of patients with spinal cord injuries. The nurses and physician decide to discharge John, a 39 year old male, who has a complete C5 spinal cord injury and has been in the unit for 3 months. They believe that John is medically stable and meets the criteria for discharge. However, the social worker strongly disagrees with the nurse’s decision to discharge John because he does not have an adequate living situation in the community and lacks social support. She turns to her supervisor for help. A meeting is called between the interdisciplinary team to discuss. During the meeting, a conflict arises between the team members as they are using a competing conflict handling style. One of the conditions that allow for this conflict to escalate, is the condition of incompatible viewpoints. Both sides cannot come to an agreement on whether or not 39-year-old John should be discharged. This conflict further escalates as the nurse responds to the social workers with hostility due to the experience of burnout. This results in misunderstanding and causes both parties to remain close-minded. They refuse to hear what the other parties have to say that led up to their decisions of wanting or not wanting to discharge the patient. After not being able to come up with a resolution in the meeting they make a call to resume the next day. The charge nurse speaks to the nurse in private and offers advice on how to better handle the conflict before the next meeting and suggests for her to collaborate with the rest of the interprofessional team by actively listening to the concerns of other members. During the next meeting they begin to show collaboration in resolving the conflict by addressing each member's concerns as they brainstorm possible solutions.