Question You are a family nurse practitioner working in an outpatient primary care office of a large hospital system. The practice has been ope

You are a family nurse practitioner working in an outpatient primary care office of a large hospital system. The practice has been operating for over 15 years, and many of the administrative and clinical staff were hired when the practice opened. You have been in the practice for less than 3 months. In that short amount of time, you have witnessed several of the clinical staff engaging in heated arguments with each other, sometimes in patient areas. You overhear an argument occurring today between two staff. You pick up a patient’s chart and notice a very low blood pressure that the medical assistant failed to notify you about. When you confront the MA, she states that she was going to report the vital signs to you when she became engaged in the heated argument you overheard and forgot to notify you.

Unfortunately, this pattern of behavior is not unusual in this practice. Working with staff who cannot cooperate effectively can negatively influence your ability to spend time with patients, can impede the flow of patients through the office, and could impact patient safety.

Discussion Question:

What is your response to the medical assistant? What actions do you take to redirect the flow away from arguments and back to patient care?

Provide rationales and evidence to support your decisions.

Question 2

Leadership is not random. It is multifaceted and must be communicated as a stated plan to effect a change. Organizational leaders provide a vision and move others toward a common goal. This vision also reinforces the importance of teamwork in the workplace.

According to Buppert (2015), quality improvement and patient safety are inextricably intertwined. A work environment that supports teamwork and respect for other people is essential to promote patient safety and quality of care. Unprofessional behavior is disruptive and adversely impacts patient and staff satisfaction, the recruitment and retention of healthcare professionals, communication, teamwork and undermines a culture of safety. Unprofessional behavior is therefore unacceptable.

Discussion Question:

In this scenario, what evidence-based organizational strategies and management skills might you employ to resolve co-worker conflict? Reflect on conflict resolution strategies specifically for healthcare. How does teamwork increase patient safety? Provide evidence and rationales to support your decisions. Provide evidence and rationale to support your decisions.