Resolving Conflict: Tips for Nurses

As a nurse, you probably know that conflict is bound to happen during shifts. When conflict arises, it’s important to be prepared and professional. Regardless of your nursing shift or level in the profession, conflict is natural. Equipping yourself with conflict resolution tools can help you manage and even mitigate conflict while caring for your patients. Read on for our tips on how to manage and resolve conflict as a nurse in the healthcare environment.

Stay Calm

Remaining calm is the first step in the successful resolution of any conflict.

Your reaction to an emerging conflict will either escalate or decrease the intensity of the situation. Take a step back and observe the problem. Remind yourself that the conflict cannot be solved immediately.

Control Your Emotions

By controlling your emotions, you reduce your potential of offending others through miscommunication.

Your tone and body language have a huge impact on how others perceive you. Avoid raising your voice and other nonverbal cues that suggest you are angry, upset, or unwilling to compromise.

This process can often be a self-fulfilling prophecy – merely attempting to exert control over your emotions will cause any anger or frustration to subside.

Practice Active Listening

Active Listening is a way of engaging in conversation that requires effort and concentration; it shows the speaker you are invested in what they are saying.

In order to actively listen, the listener pays attention to the speaker’s verbal and nonverbal language, acknowledging the speaker’s opinion without expressing judgment. The listener separates the problem from the person; the conflict is seen as a naturally-occurring set of circumstances rather than a problem created by a flawed individual.

Listening to others in this way shows respect for their thoughts and feelings, which greatly improves the chances of reaching an effective resolution to the conflict at hand.

Avoid Criticizing Others

Criticizing others creates barriers to resolving conflict. Always remain respectful of the thoughts and feelings of others involved in the problem-solving process.

Additionally, Clarke University created a formula to help work through your feelings without hurting others:

• I feel [strongest feeling]
• When you [objective description of the behavior]
• Because [specific impact or consequences]
• I would like [what you want the person to do in the future to prevent the problem]

Be Willing to Compromise

Lastly, be open to making a compromise. Compromising in conflict requires making an agreement in a dispute where both sides make concessions. While compromising is not always pleasant, it is the best way to ensure that the conflict at hand won’t happen again.

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