ESSAY: Crucial Conversations

Utilizing the Thornby article (in the Learning Materials for this module), select two of the seven given “crucial conversations” healthcare professionals struggle with that contribute to patient harm and unacceptable error rates. Describe how you have witnessed/observed these in practice and what you can do to stop/deter them.

ANSWER

Crucial Conversations

Two of the seven given critical conversations healthcare professionals struggle with that I chose are: “administrations must go public about the pervasiveness of concerns” and “caregivers must directly confront disruptive behavior.” The two crucial conversations are very critical in healthcare units especially in this modern age, where disruptive behaviors often go unchecked, or even worse, accepted as part of the system.

Caregivers need to confront such behaviors directly to help avert disruptive behaviors. I recall while working at a local health center, and there was an instance where a colleague emotionally and verbally abused a nurse for questioning her dubious approach to providing care to a patient. The colleague was unapologetic, and since the nurse was an intern, she did not seek my colleague’s apology or confronted her for jeopardizing the life of the patient. This, coupled with her refusing to attempt to engage in a conversation and rolling her eyes, emotionally drained me and I am certain it demoralized the intern. I also recall expressing the same to the nurse manager in a bid to solve the problem, but instead, she asked me not to let it out to any other person. She out rightly did that to protect the image of the hospital instead of coming out to state out my concerns. 

To prevent such disruptive behaviors from occurring, people in positions of power need to start acknowledging the occurrence of disruptive behaviors and take action rather than leave them unattended. Caregivers must also directly..