As promised yesterday, today’s topic is about an issue frequently raised by nurses in all sectors – Managing Conflict
Earlier in the series I mentioned conflict at work and I asked you to think about whether it’s this that is the main driver behind a desire to move from your current nursing position. I also mentioned that this series and the workshops I am co-hosting with Jane Campion have been designed from a neutral standpoint – that is we want to give you all the information you need so that any decision you make on whether to pursue a career in Practice Nursing – or not – is based on facts. We aren’t going to try to persuade you one way or the other.
Ask yourself and be honest with the answer – are you driven to a new role by anticipation of new challenges and opportunities to expand your clinical practice, or are you in fact getting away from a long-term or underlying conflict in your current role? If it hasn’t been possible to resolve the conflict, you may feel that the only way to be happy is to move and that’s fine, but you still need to be sure that where you are heading towards is not just an absence of conflict (and how can anyone be sure of that…?) but that it will stimulate you mentally and expand your skills too, so that there is also a very positive reason for moving to another role.
In the spirit of our unbiased approach to this topic, please also ask yourself if there is a chance that a move could end up being a long-term solution to a fixable or short-term problem. If this is the case, there may be other steps you could take to improve your current situation, ranging from tackling it head on or learning to live with it and training yourself not to be so affected by it.
Conversations in conflict situations are crucial. It sometimes takes supreme effort for one person to start or hold a conversation that will be productive.
When I coach someone who wants to tackle a conflict situation head on I often guide them towards the 4 Rs. You will recognise this from the mental checklist for giving medications!
Is it the…
Right Time to approach someone about an issue?
Right Person to speak to?
Right Place to have this conversation?
Right Agenda (i.e. you’d need to concentrate on the main key issue. It’s not going to help to bring up other items you have been harbouring because it’s very likely the other person will become defensive and close down).
Sometimes we also need to have a conversation with ourselves as well.
Some questions to ask yourself are:
Is this a deal-breaker for you or can you learn to live with it?
Most importantly what are you learning from situations that are uncomfortable? These learnings are contributing to your personal development and strengths so don’t forget to pay attention to them and notice your progress. And be kind to yourself always.
If you do decide to pursue a career in Practice Nursing and if you have also become very skilled at conflict management, then that is a strength and a gift that you can bring to your new GP employer and you should highlight that as one of your skills. One of the aspects we will cover at our workshop is building confidence, in terms of your current role and also for job interviews. (The agenda really is jam-packed with all you need, much more and many more topics than we can share in these posts! So make sure you secure your spot on one of the dates – link is below).
Until then, best wishes,
Lisa.
P.S. This and many other topics not included in this series will be covered in detail during the workshops that I am co-hosting on 26th July and 4th October with Jane Campion. The workshop is titled “Practice Nursing as a Career”.
The link for more information and booking is here.
The workshop is a day packed with information, discussion, exploration and exercises that will give you much deeper insights than you can access yourself or via this series.
We have kept the price low to make it accessible for everyone. As well as this, tea/coffee and light lunch are included in the price. There are still some places available on both dates so if you have been thinking about this, now is the time to book and secure your place before they are all gone.
Jane and I have extensive experience of Practice Nursing (41 years between us!) so this is a great opportunity to learn from us and pick our brains in a safe space, away from work/life distractions and demands.
So don’t miss out – click below to register and we’ll save you a seat!
