Anger Management in the Health Care Workplace Essay

Health professionals carry out stressful activities on a daily basis. Nurses, doctors, and health workers’ environments involve a multitude of tasks, all to be done with amidst the stress of time, communicating with patients, and dealing with life and death situations. Besides individuals, health care work involves effectively integrating with the health organization, community expectations and government support. Breakdown of these systems is part of the health care work and is better to be viewed in a positive light. â€Å"A commentary suggests that conflict is a natural part of the human experience, especially in organizations. The intent of collaboration should not be agreement, but the ability for everyone to express their opinions no matter how disagreeable those opinions may seem. When people feel free to disagree, more ideas are put on the table, which can lead to more discoveries and to quantum leaps in improvement and innovation.† (Caudron, 1999) However, it is imperative to approach conflict management between health professionals using professional tools. The usual response of people under stress while reacting to opponents can be described in four responses. Angered people attack their adversaries by lashing out at them in the aim of either hurting the other party or protecting their interests. Some persons just merely avoid the conflict and start to ignore the other party. â€Å"Modern team-building experts say that the avoidance of conflict is the surest way to non-functional teams.† (Beck, 1998)   Sometimes, there is softening where conflicting parties pretend that everything is ok when its really not. And the last reaction to conflict is resolution where parties are able to resolve the conflict and find a point of unity once again. Health care professionals do not work as a single unit. High levels of teamwork are required in carrying out health care effectively and efficiently. Effective communication will help health professionals cope up with conflicts brought about by stress in the workplace. â€Å"Whether a manager is motivating the staff to increase sales or leading a team through a problem-solving process, effective communication is critical. Supportive language fosters a positive working climate, while negative or evaluative language can cause conflict and defensiveness.† (Aubrey, 1992) Different kinds of conflicts can be found in the workplace. â€Å"Task-oriented conflicts focus on the process the team will use to achieve its goals or its mission. People-oriented conflicts arise out of personality conflicts, struggles for leadership, and just plain rudeness by one member to another.† (Anonymous, 1996) But all conflicts can be resolved in due time with openness and processes to guide the management of conflict. One of these conflict management theories is elaborated by Montebello. Describing the conflict is the first step to resolving it. This step is a sure constructive way in getting all the parties’ help and goal to resolve the conflict. Describing the conflict makes the chaos stop. Conflicts found in health care are usually ridden with lots of emotions that conflicting parties need to take a different point of view first and get out of the situation in order to become more objective of the situation at hand. Once the conflict is described, exploring possible causes is the next process. The listening component is important in this level because parties need to hear out each other’s perspectives and hopefully try to understand the other party’s position. Health workers are good listeners and they will be integral to this part of conflict resolution. When the parties go to the stage where they start to give possible solutions, they get into the negotiating phase. Negotiation must be approached in a positive way. Through negotiation, everyone’s ideas are articulated and either supported or rejected by the parties. This process is crucial because when solutions do not pass through negotiations, they are more likely to fail and therefore the last step, which is to take action, will not be done in committed manner. Taking action leads to the actual solving of the conflict. Health care professionals will be able to work efficiently once more with regular conflict management. Conflict management is like oil to a machine. References: Anonymous. 1996.  How to cope with conflicts within the team. Getting Results †¦ for the Hands – On Manager:   C.  Saranac Lake:  Apr 1996.Vol.  41,  Iss.  4;  Ã‚  pg.  1,  1  pgs Aubrey, Charles A II,  Felkins, Patricia K.  Incentive.  1992. Team talk: How language and listening improve teamwork New York:  Dec 1992.Vol.  166,  Iss.  12;  Ã‚  pg.  51,  4  pgs Beck, Joe. 1998.  The failure to confront   Occupational Health & Safety.  Waco:  Jul 1998.Vol.  67,  Iss.  7;  Ã‚  pg.  20,  3  pgs Caudron, Shari. 1999.  Productive conflict has value   Workforce.  Costa Mesa:  Feb 1999.Vol.  78,  Iss.  2;  Ã‚  pg.  25,  3  pgs