Problem-Solving and Communication - Essay Example

"Problem-Solving and Communication " is a perfect example of a paper on the health system.
The healthcare environment is one of the backbones of the modern world setup. Hospitals and their staff play a major role in providing care to the people and ensuring better health practices in society. However, as people become part of larger groups conflict becomes a part of them; likewise, the healthcare environment faces all kinds of big and small conflicts among its staff. ‘The potential for excessive conflict in healthcare organizations is readily apparent.’ (Schulz & Johnson, 1990) It can be observed that the wide range of specialized workforce is gathered together in the healthcare industry. Conflicts are bound to happen in such a diverse people-oriented environment.

The rationale for these conflicts is different on the surface level but the same on the root level. Issues relating to conflicts may vary but the rationale is the different nature of expertise, job, and experience of the people in the healthcare setup. Pawar in his article explained that conflicts also arise due to the blame game deeply rooted in the human psyche. It is human nature to jump to the question ‘who did it?’ rather than ‘how can the problem be resolved?’ The healthcare setup has also experienced the same blame game and finger-pointing when people are faced with a problem or an issue. ‘Because blame is rooted in our emotions, it cannot be abolished simply through policies, procedures or exhortations.’  (Pawar, 2007) Face saving and protecting personal interest is one of the main factors that caused conflict in the healthcare team as described in the article. This self-protection and blame game not only causes conflict but results in shifting the focus to fixing people rather than fixing the problem at hand.

The blame displacement and selfish attitude often is a result of miscommunication and lack of appropriate communication channels and system that cause doubts, skepticism, and disbelief among people regarding each other. ‘Good communication is essential to preventing conflict, as well as helping to resolve it.’ (Carter & Lewsen, 2005) In healthcare, setup communication is important to clear up the bias that people hold against each other that have no connection to reality. When people talk to each other they are better able to understand and judge the other person rather than forming their own assumptions based only on their analysis. Communication gives a clear picture of the issue at hand and people shift their focus from each other to the actual issue at hand. Effective communication in terms of team meetings gives people a better understanding of the collective perspective and strategy and helps them understand the process in a better manner.  Thus communication helped resolved conflict in the healthcare environment as it explained people the actual picture which leads to correct and pertinent assumptions based on facts and reality.