Reducing Conflict in the Healthcare Workplace

October 30, 2023


When it comes to ensuring the success of your medical practice, one piece of healthcare practice advice is to handle workplace conflict before it gets out of hand. Interpersonal conflict occurs frequently when a group of diverse individuals works in the same area, and situations can range from angry outbursts by a tired physician or squabbling among nurses or aides when the workload gets demanding. You cannot afford to let these issues interrupt patient care efforts, but handling conflict inappropriately can have a negative impact on the patient experience.

Conflict resolution help for the medical office

Personal conflict in a medical setting can include defensiveness, a victim mentality, bullying, passive-aggressiveness, and gossip. Taking quick action to address these issues, as well as putting proactive measures in place to reduce the occurrence of these actions, is what can lead to practice success in the area of a positive care environment.

Think about the needs of the team

Tough conversations may need to happen to help restore cohesion to your staff members. While you may be tempted to let certain issues slide, it is the needs of the whole team that should take priority. Framing conversations according to the benefit of the office can help make them less personal and cause an employee to feel less attacked.

Set clear boundaries and expectations

While you would hope that your employees will naturally be considerate about the impact of their actions, you will need to set clear expectations and boundaries concerning employee performance, treatment of others, and patient service. Holding each individual to a standard of behavior can make it easier to follow through with disciplinary measures or constructive conservations about change.

Work with people’s strengths

A piece of healthcare practice advice that can have an impact on more than just conflict resolution is focusing on people’s strengths. It is natural for individuals to feel dissatisfied or unnecessary when put in positions that seem to limit their potential or do not allow them to do what they are good at. This stifles creativity, breeds contempt, and can lead to short fuses. Motivating people in their strengths can develop a more interdependent work environment where each individual feels they play a significant part.

Anticipate responses or reactions

When putting new processes in place, when bringing on new staff, or when experiencing heavy workloads, anticipate the feelings and responses of everyone involved. This approach allows you to shape how you communicate or how you move ahead to minimize the likelihood of conflict. Using clear language, being conscious of emotional motivations, or leading by example can all work to remove doubts or frustrations that could lead to conflict among team members.

A trusted source of healthcare practice advice

Trying to manage all of the areas in your practice can be overwhelming and exhausting. Give yourself and your team a break by turning to a trusted source of help in healthcare operations. Doctor Genius works hard to develop a positive image of your practice through quality marketing services, giving you the time needed to focus on your patients and staff members. Contact our team of specialists to find out how we can advance the marketing strategy of your practice.

Doctor Genius, located at 16800 Aston Street, Suite 270, Irvine, CA 92606, provides a range of services for practice success. We seek to meet our clients’ needs by providing a variety of marketing, SEO, practice optimization tools, and coaching to transform the healthcare experience. Though we work to provide the most accurate information, the content found on this website is solely intended for entertainment purposes. Therefore, we cannot guarantee that the information provided is entirely correct. You may not use the information on this site to cure, prevent, or diagnose a perceived medical issue. If you have healthcare-related needs, please speak directly to a healthcare professional. Never self-perform medical treatments discussed on this website. All images displayed are also for entertainment purposes only, and personal experiences may differ. Please note that the business tactics mentioned on this site might not be applicable to your industry or practice.

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