The Issue of Abuse in the Healthcare Sector

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Reflection Overview and Reaction Analysis: The LEARN Framework
Discussion
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Unfortunately, abuse is widespread in the healthcare sector; nurses should be able to prevent and deal with workplace violence. Both nurses and their patients may be subjects of the abusive behavior: for example, a nurse may neglect their patients, which is especially harmful for elder people, children, and those with mental issues. Therefore, a nurse must be able to solve conflicts and help their colleagues to do this if they are engaged in abuse. I have watched several videos portraying nurses’ abusive behavior and used the LEARN framework to analyze my reactions and how I can improve my ability to stop abusive behavior and deal with conflicts.

Reflection Overview and Reaction Analysis: The LEARN Framework

Step 1: Look Back

When I see abuse, I feel rejection: the desire to ignore and not see it, as there is potential harm and a bunch of negative feelings. Then, I want to interrupt and stop the conflict strictly, then explain to them that they should not behave like this and let them clarify what they want. These feelings are the strongest in the case of physical abuse, quite strong in verbal and financial abuse, and less strong in sexual abuse and neglect, as those are more subtle. In case of neglect, I want to communicate with nurses and explain that they misbehave and will never obtain what they want if they continue to do this.

Step 2: Elaborate and Describe

If I see the neglect, first I can connect with the patient and care for them. Then, I would communicate with my colleague, asking why they neglect a patient and explaining that it is harmful for them (Cooke et al., 2019; Lines et al., 2021; Lines et al., 2018). After that, I can ask them why they act this way and what they want: nurses and clients usually have very different views on the situation (Babaei et al., 2018).

There are several ways of conflict resolution, which are different on the level of cooperativeness and assertiveness: avoiding, accommodating, compromising, competing, and collaborating (Piryani & Piryani, 2019). Compromising and collaborating are the best methods in the situation: they are based on negotiations to make an agreement that would satisfy both nurse and patient. Thus, my actions in the situation should be aimed at conflict resolution and abuse stopping: first, to stop all sides firmly, and then to communicate with them about their problems and wishes.

Step 3: Analyze Outcomes

It is hard to engage in conflict and resolve it; it can follow significant negative emotions directed at me, possibly from both sides of the conflict. However, with practice, it is possible to decrease the chance of being abused by stopping these negative emotions and trying to understand both the nurse’s and the patient’s position. The result may be unpredictable, as it is unknown whether my colleague or patient will be willing to stop their inappropriate behavior. However, it will increase the chance that the conflict will stop and that I will be able to prevent it the next time. I will learn how to negotiate with my colleagues, solve conflicts, and reduce negative emotions at work.

Step 4: Revise Approach

The possibility of obtaining negative emotions toward myself depends on my ability to cope with my own negative emotions and stop others’ abusive behavior. Therefore, to minimize the chance of my being abused, I can practice with my colleagues: play out a conflict situation and try to resolve them. I will learn in practice how to communicate with my colleagues in conflict situations, preventing them from abusive acts, and how to experience fewer negative emotions during this process.

Step 5: New Trials

As mentioned, to practice, I will try to play out the conflict situations with my colleagues and strengthen my abilities to stop and prevent abusive situations. In addition, it is essential to remember that nurses and patients have different views on the reasons for abusive behavior (Babaei et al., 2018). As much practice as possible is necessary, and my ability to do this will improve with each try to solve the conflict.

Discussion

Abuse, neglect, and violence are among the worst experiences that may be experienced; however, it is not uncommon in healthcare. Both nurses and patients may be prone to such behavior: for example, a nurse may abuse a patient with mental issues by neglecting them, which will worsen their condition heavily (Cooke et al., 2019). If children feel neglected and misunderstood by nurses, their physical and mental health worsens (Lines et al., 2021; Lines et al., 2018). If I witness the abusive behavior of my colleagues, I should first try to stop them verbally, explaining that they are wrong. If it does not work, I will demand firmly that this behavior should stop. After that, I will communicate with them and help them understand why they behave this way, why it is counterproductive and harmful, and how to stop it.

My weakness is that I can try to avoid or ignore conflict to get rid of the negative emotions that follow it. My strong side is that I am firmly aimed at conflict resolution and, thus, am motivated to learn how to stop abusive behavior. One can see the analysis of my learning goal and its indicators in Table 1: specific measures, their relevance, and timelines may be found there too.

Table 1. The overview of the learning goal, presented in the paper, using the SMART framework.

	SMART	Indicators
S	Specific	The goal is to learn how I can stop and prevent workplace abuse, both from other nurses and our patients. I need to learn the literature on this theme and incorporate conflict-solving practices in my work.
M	Measurable	The success of the goal can be measured by the number of conflicts that I was able to stop or prevent; prevention is preferable in this case.
A	Attainable	There are plenty of literature, Internet articles, and scholarly works that explore the theme of workplace abuse in healthcare. However, it requires personal practice to not be scared and crushed by workplace abuse.
R	Relevant	The ability to stop and prevent violence at workplace is essential for healthcare practice due to the prevalence of this problem.
T	Timeline	If I start to learn the literature tomorrow, I will be ready to start practicing with my colleagues after a week of learning the theory. This time will be enough to find all information and perceive practices that can resolve the conflict and calm people down. After two weeks of such practices, I need to incorporate the practice of conflict-stopping and preventing in my work, as I will be ready

Conclusion

Abusive and conflict behaviors are common in the healthcare workplace: for example, when a nurse is tired and neglect a patient who needs care. It is possible to minimize negative emotions, resolve conflicts successfully, and prevent such behavior by quickly noticing it. The LEARN framework can be used to increase the efficiency of problem-solving by looking back at the situation, reflecting on it, practicing the learned skills, and then changing and improving it when necessary. By learning conflict-solving skills, such as compromising and collaborating, I will be able to stop the abusive behavior of my colleagues and patients and reduce the level of negative emotions at the workplace.

References

Babaei, N., Rahmani, A., Avazeh, M., Mohajjelaghdam, A.-R., Zamanzadeh, V., & Dadashzadeh, A. (2018). Determine and compare the viewpoints of nurses, patients and their relatives to workplace violence against nurses. Journal of Nursing Management, 26(5), 563–570. Web.

Cooke, P. J., Day, M. R., & Mulcahy, H. (2019). Dementia and elder abuse: Understanding public health nurses’ experiences. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 9(7), 56. Web.

Lines, L. E., Hutton, A., & Grant, J. M. (2021). Constructing a compelling case: Nurses’ experiences of communicating abuse and neglect. Child Abuse Review. Web.

Lines, L., Grant, J., & Hutton, A. (2018). How do nurses keep children safe from abuse and neglect, and does it make a difference? A scoping review. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 43, e75–e84. Web.

Piryani, R. M., & Piryani, S. (2019). Conflict management in healthcare. Journal of Nepal Health Research Council, 16(41), 481–482. Web.

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