Conflict can arise from a variety of sources, and between supervisors and subordinates, between co- workers, and between employees and clients. When dealing with conflict in an organization, it is imperative to address the issue, not the people.

Conflict in the workplace can be counter- productive. If it is not properly addressed, then any small conflict can grow into an ongoing larger problem. The organization where I am working is not an exempt in this kind of difficulty. It also encounters different kinds of conflict almost everyday. Conflicts, I may say, are inevitable. It is a part of the working environment.

One of the most common types of conflict that we’ve come across in the organization I belong to is conflict in interpersonal relationship—commonly known as “clashing of personalities”. This usually stems from differences in behavioral patterns, points of view or ideology or even unhealthy competition between persons or groups. Sometimes it could just start from a petty disagreement to an all out rivalry between two nurses, a supervisor and a nurse or even between two or more departments. This kind of conflict, well all types of conflict I believe, must be handled quickly and openly. It is not just the responsibility of the organization itself but of the employees as well.

When it comes to managing conflicts, our nurse manager usually is the one who comes in between to intervene. She first investigates the situation before dealing with it. She first examines the main reason for the conflict. She looks at each side separately making sure that both sides are heard, sometimes get input from other people before bringing both party to a room to try to resolve the root cause. She acts as the mediator and usually finds alternative solutions which are agreeable to both parties. And just to make sure that same problem won’t happen again, she more often than not call a meeting to make sure that all her nurses understand their roles and responsibilities as well as the goals, policies and procedures of the organization.

In my entire career as a nurse, I can truly say that conflicts are inevitable. We cannot avoid it no matter how hard we try. It is a part of our working environment. It is always there lurking in every corner.

One of the most common types of conflict that I’ve frequently encountered, time and again in our area, is the conflict in schedules. Most of the nurses in the ward where I am assigned want to have their day off during weekends. I mean, who wouldn’t want to. It’s the only moment you could spend some time with your family. They will make their own schedules even though they know that it isn’t feasible. And if they see that their requests have not been granted, they’ll resort to absenteeism. I have learned from my head nurse that the only way to resolve this kind of problem is to make them understand the value of give and take relationship. If this week they have the privilege to have their rest during weekends, then next week would be for other staffs. I can still remember her saying that we have to give everyone fair chances of taking rest day during weekends because we all have families of our own that we want to get in touch to and spend some quality time with; it doesn’t really matter if you’re single or married.

Another conflict that I usually encounter in the ward is the disagreement between ward nurses or between ward and special area nurses. This is due to unfinished tasks that they commonly leave behind to our unit when the patient is already transferred to our care. Backlog of other areas means additional burden to us plus the fact that most of our clients are too demanding. Our head nurse then told us not receive endorsement from other units if their work with the patient is still incomplete—that includes morning care, medications, laboratory tests and diagnostics and even chart completeness. This policy creates tension between nurses especially if all areas are quite busy at the time. But this also encourages us to give our best in our work.

Lastly, conflict sometimes arises between us nurses and our clients. It’s not a hidden fact that we meet different kinds of people at work everyday. And most of the time, their personality is just so difficult to handle—becoming so demanding and domineering at the same time. They do what they want and when they want to even if it is prohibited. Managing this kind of clients requires patience on our part. I never forget to always put their situation on my place. It’s hard being a patient, being restricted in the four corners of a room and not doing the things you want. So it’s very important for us nurses to understand what the patient is going through but taking into consideration not to give in to his/ her demands.

Conflict, I believe, is not always a disadvantage. We can also get some benefits from it. It can serve as a catalyst for our personality development. It encourages open- mindedness and helps us generate new ideas and breakthroughs in thinking. It also strengthens relationships by creating an environment of mutual understanding and respect. Most of all, conflicts beats stagnation. Without it, there is no change. Conflicts help us to overcome challenges and be a better person.