NRS-451VN Topic 4 DQ1

A new director decides to reorganize the department you work in. This reorganization comes about without input from the employees and many of the nurses that you oversee are feeling resentful of the change. As a nurse leader, identify factors that may lead to conflict and ways you can manage them.

A change in departments may be difficult to adjust to, especially if the employees do not agree with them. This can make the workplace a difficult place for employees and many problems and conflict may arise. According to Huber (2014), conflict in a workplace can arise from changes in organizations. These can have direct and indirect consequences, such as “decreased managerial productivity as a result of time spent on resolving conflict…sabotage, theft, damage to facilities…loss of team morale, loss of motivation for organizational change, damaged workplace relationship, and unresolved tensions that lead to future conflicts” (p.168). For example, there may be nurse shortages, increased workloads, lack of supplies, etc. The director is new, so he/she may not know what it is like on the floor, that is why gaining employee input is important when making changes. A nurse leader’s job is to take the employees concerns and relay them to the new director, so they can be addressed appropriately. The nurse leaders acts as a liaison between the employees and the new director. This allows the employees to voice their concerns, and if they are heard from one person, then the director will be better able to address in an appropriate way. Receiving input from the employees is vital because the changes directly affect them and their ability to provide patient care.

I have personal experience with this because my workplace recently had a change in management. A lot of problems have arose, such as increased workloads and lack of supplies. This has been very difficult on my co-workers and I because the increased workload has affected our time with the patient, and the lack of supplies has prevented us from providing quality patient care. There are many times where we have run out of wipes or briefs, so we’ve had to improvise. Some of the briefs that we do have are too small for some of our patients, so I have combined two small briefs and made a large one. Luckily this worked and the modified brief fit the patient(s). A leader must be the voice of the employees and relay the concerns and problems to management, so they can be resolved.

References

Huber, D. (2014). Leadership and Nursing Care Management, 5th Edition. [Vitalsource]. Retrieved from https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781455740710/