Page 109 - Essentials of Nursing Leadership and Management, 5th Edition

CikguOnline
2208_Ch07_091-102.qxd 11/6/09 5:57 PM Page 96
96 unit 2 | Working Within the Organization CikguOnline
former nurse manager had not enforced this but still reinforced the manager’s determination
policy with Ms. Deloitte, but the new nurse to enforce the vacation policy.
manager thought it fair to enforce the policy ■ Resolved, or Resume Problem Solving?
with everyone, including Ms. Deloitte. Ms. Deloitte, staff members, and the nurse man-
■ Possible Solutions ager all thought the problem had been solved
satisfactorily.
1. Ms. Deloitte resigns.
2. Ms. Deloitte is fired. Negotiating an Agreement Informally
3. Allow Ms. Deloitte to take her vacation as
When disagreement has become too big, too com-
planned.
plex, or too heated, a more elaborate process may be
4. Allow everyone to take vacations between
required to resolve it. On evaluating Case 1, the
December 20 and January 5 as requested.
nurse manager decided that the tensions between
5. Allow no one to take a vacation between
Team A and Team B had become so great that
December 20 and January 5.
negotiation would be necessary.
■ Evaluate Suggested Solutions. Ms. Deloitte The process of negotiation is a complex one that
preferred solutions 3 and 4. The new nurse man- requires much careful thought beforehand and
ager preferred 5. Neither wanted 1 or 2. They considerable skill in its implementation. Box 7-2 is
could agree only that none of the solutions satis- an outline of the most essential aspects of negotia-
fied both of them, so they decided to try again. tion. Case 1 is used to illustrate how it can be done.
■ Second List of Possible Solutions
Scope the Situation
1. Reimburse Ms. Deloitte for the cost of the
For a strategy to be successful,it is important that the
tickets.
entire situation be understood thoroughly. Walker
2. Allow Ms. Deloitte to take one last vacation
and Harris (1995) suggested asking three questions:
between December 20 and January 5.
3. Allow Ms. Deloitte to take her vacation during 1. What am I trying to achieve? The nurse manager
Thanksgiving instead. in Case 1 is concerned about the tensions
4. Allow Ms. Deloitte to begin her vacation on between Team A and Team B. She wants the
December 26 so that she would work on members of these two teams to be able to work
Christmas Day but not on New Year’s Day. together in a cooperative manner, which they
5. Allow Ms. Deloitte to begin her vacation earlier are not doing at the present time.
in December so that she could return in time 2. What is the environment in which I am operating?
to work on New Year’s Day. The members of Teams A and B were openly
hostile to each other. The overall climate of the
■ Choose the Best Solution. As they discussed
organization, however, was benign. The nurse
the alternatives, Ms. Deloitte said she could
manager knew that teamwork was encouraged
change the day of her flight without a penalty.
The nurse manager said she would allow solu-
tion 5 on the second list if Ms. Deloitte under-
box 7-2
stood that she could not take vacation time
between December 20 and January 5 in the The Informal Negotiation Process
future. Ms. Deloitte agreed to this. • Scope the situation. Ask yourself:
■ Implement the Solution. Ms. Deloitte returned What am I trying to achieve?
on December 30 and worked both New Year’s What is the environment in which I am operating?
Eve and New Year’s Day. What problems am I likely to encounter?
What does the other side want?
■ Evaluate the Solution. The rest of the staff
• Set the stage.
members had been watching the situation very
• Conduct the negotiation.
closely. Most believed that the solution had been • Set the ground rules.
fair to them as well as to Ms. Deloitte. Ms. • Clarify the problem.
Deloitte thought she had been treated fairly. • Make your opening move.
The nurse manager believed both parties had • Continue with offers and counteroffers.
• Agree on the resolution of the conflict.
found a solution that was fair to Ms. Deloitte