Interpersonal Communication Scenarios

Unfortunately, uncomfortable situations within the workplace occur more often than one would think. However, nurse leaders that are comfortable in handling chaos, crucial conversations, and lateral violence are a step above the rest. To start, when working with multiple employees that are all diverse and unique, plus working with those staff members in a constantly changing field is going to be difficult at times. In order to properly handle the chaos and crucial conversations, the nurse leader needs to master dialogue, instead of monologue. In other words, each staff member wants their opinion to be heard so, no matter how different it may be, leaders need to listen to their employees during times of chaos. Furthermore, listening and allowing employees to voice their opinion will allow solutions to be discovered together in order to fix the problem. Often, crucial conversations are uncomfortable for both the nurse leader and employee, but are necessary in order to do what is best for all (Roussel, Thomas, & Harris, 2016).

During a night shift, I had received a transfer patient from the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) that needed to be placed on comfort cares, but the family would not allow that to happen. That patient’s significant other was very hostile and upset that her loved one was transferred out of the ICU, and felt like we were giving up on him. Throughout the first few hours of the shift, this woman yelled numerous times at me while complaining about anything that she could. Thankfully, my Clinical Care Coordinator (CCC) for the night showed me what amazing leadership truly is all about. She was able to sit down with this family member and she attempted to discuss the issues at hand. Unfortunately, this woman was not going to be satisfied with any solutions, but an effort was still