NR 506 Week 5 Ethical and Legal Implications

Sample Answer

It is difficult to work in an environment that is considered toxic due to verbal confrontations, unprofessional behavior, and heated disagreements. This environment can make workers feel unhappy when entering work, reduce efficiency, and severely impact patient safety. In the situation with the patient’s low blood pressure, I as the nurse practitioner was not alerted to the blood pressure due to a heated argument that the medical assistant got pulled into. In a professional environment there should be a leader that guides the practice, in order to prevent workplace conflicts from spinning out of control.

Medical Assistant

Medical assistants in an office environment are responsible for checking patients in, obtaining vital signs, and assisting with clerical duties (AAMA, 2023). It is therefore important for them to be able to communicate data to the nurse or nurse practitioner responsible for patient treatment. The medical assistant in this scenario failed to deliver important information about the patient’s blood pressure. This is all we know about the situation with the patient. The patient may be having an emergency and low blood pressure is a key indicator of something dire. While the medical assistant is engaged in the heated argument, the patient is awaiting treatment without the information being passed along as it should.

As the NP I would be extremely disappointed in the medical assistant for not delivering the important patient information. Through negligence the patient is placed in harm’s way and that would make it very difficult to trust the medical assistant to follow through with their duties. I don’t completely blame the medical assistant but there is a serious issue with this practice due to workplace conflict and lack of leadership. As I stated, the patient could have been harmed and we don’t know what happened to the patient from the low blood pressure being left untreated.

Nurse Practitioner

According to the AANP (2023) nurse practitioners undergo rigorous national certification, periodic peer review, and training to ensure the highest quality of care to patients. Education is at a master’s level at minimum and involvement in professional development, organizations, and participation in health policy activities adds to their credibility (AANP, 2023). I understand that conflict can occur in any environment where many people come together, all with different personalities. My issue is when these people cannot pull together as a team to care for the patients in a safe and respectable manner. Arguments in the facility work to diminish the credibility of the practice and the nurse practitioner.

When a patient is neglected because important information is not passed on, patient harm can occur causing the patient to sue the practice for malpractice related to negligence. It is the nurse practitioner who can be held responsible when all is said and done. When looking at these situations it is important to acknowledge how this situation could impact the patient and the nurse practitioner’s ability to practice because patient treatment is the responsibility of the NP. Being at the practice for 3 months may make it difficult to speak up against the unprofessional behavior but it will be necessary, to protect the NPs credibility and licensure. Patient safety is the most important responsibility of the NP, and failure to preserve that can result in a lawsuit, termination, or imprisonment.

Medical Director

A medical director is responsible for the patient’s best interest through use of medical knowledge to provide competent medical care with compassion and follow medical principles (AMA, 2023). Through these principles it is clear that the medical director should have respect for patients and colleagues by upholding standards of professionalism in the practice (AMA, 2023). If this is true of the responsibilities of a medical director then it is safe to assume that this medical director is not holding up to the standards, ethical principles, and responsibilities bestowed on a physician assuming this responsibility. There is poor leadership in this practice, and it shows through the numerous conflicts, heated arguments, and patient safety concerns that are occurring.

As the NP new to the practice, I am now observing the toxicity of the working environment but question how staff members feel comfortable enough to have heated arguments close to patient areas.

• What are the consequences for such behaviors?
• How long have these conflicts been occurring?

The medical director shares responsibility for negligence resulting from information not being shared, and possible patient harm. The medical director is also responsible for conflict resolution, which is not happening in this case study. When there are a multitude of problems in a facility, the first person held responsible during a malpractice suit is the leader, and in this case, it is the medical director. The medical director in this case study could be held responsible, could be terminated, and could face charges related to negligence.

Practice

It says in the case study that this is not the first-time arguments were observed and at this point, it is a possibility that patients have heard disagreements. I know that as a patient if I went to a facility and the staff were having heated arguments, I would not be confident in their care for me. I would feel that they are unprofessional and incapable of treatment due to distraction not appropriate for the working environment. Knowing that conflicts are resolved through arguments that have no boundaries is concerning for a patient and can make it difficult for other staff members to take pride in working there. The practice would be held ultimately responsible for any damages that occurred through patient harm because it is through the practice that malpractice insurances are obtained.

They would need to reconsider the type of staff members working there and work on conflict resolution to change the environment. The credibility, safety, and reputation of the practice could be called into question if more than one patient has experienced the arguments happening. Within a 3-month period the new NP has already seen several arguments. Now a days the internet is important and negative reviews could greatly influence the ability of the practice to generate income. If they have had more than one issue with patient safety, they could face issues with insurance reimbursement. Worst case scenario is the practice could be shut down.

Strategies

In the health professional environment, conflict can be disruptive, inefficient, and greatly impact patient safety. Healthcare systems are more complex than ever before, and it is necessary to change how professionals engage and work together. Stating that everyone should be friends is a simple way to understand that performance is correlated to teamwork (Eichbaum, 2018). The initiation of open discussion can be helpful in the correct environment, such as during a team meeting, where everyone is able to state their concerns. The effectiveness of the team’s ability to collaborate directly affects performance and team member frustration. Conflict is not always a bad thing and when controlled it can help to become a source for learning and new ideas, for example, an argument about a safety concern can help staff to come up with ideas to fix the issue together.

Building trust is necessary to assist staff in working as a team and engaging constructively to find solutions. An issue that can occur in a working environment is power hierarchies where older staff may assume they are in charge, instead of participating in a democracy to work out issues. Conflicts can arise in these situations when those who haven’t established status speak up. A strong leader will encourage all parties to communicate, giving new employees a voice and minimizing domineering tendencies of older staff (Eichbaum, 2018).

Leadership

Finding a leadership style that will assist with conflict management is necessary in this case study. I suggest democratic leadership because it is a style that allows for increased communication with leaders and staff to ensure open communication. Democratic leadership follows an egalitarian point of view, with the principal belief being equality and participation (Barthold et.al., 2022). In this leadership style the leader allows and welcomes team participation, opening discussions to help with decision making. I feel that this type of leadership is beneficial to conflict management and will help to channel the voices of the frustrated office staff in a way that is more constructive to their working environment and beneficial to the practice. According to Barthold et. al. (2022) the duty of leaders is to remove barriers that prevent open dialogue. In this case scenario an issue may be that some of the staff is domineering newer members and the leader is not allowing for new staff to have a voice. This would cause a conflict in the office when newer staff speak up.

Opening an arena where voices can be heard reduces conflict and frustration through communication. Lack of communication will damage team member trust and collaboration resulting in internal and external conflicts, burnout, and frustration for the work environment. Having democratic leadership will change the culture of the practice to a culture of sharing information, good communication, trust, and collaboration. The leader should establish meetings where staff can speak up each month. Keeping an open door policy to hear concerns can be helpful in resolving conflicts before they turn into heated arguments. New policies can be developed to let employees know that certain behaviors are not tolerated but there is an outlet for communications to build trust.

References

• American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) (2023) What’s a Nurse Practitioner. Retrieved from https //www.aanp.org/about/all-about-nps/whats-a-nurse-practitioner
• AAMA. (n.d). What is a Medical Assistant. Retrieved in 2023 from https //www.aama-ntl.org/medical-assisting/what-is-a-medical-assistant# ~ text=Preparing%20patients%20for%20examinations,about%20medication%20and%20special%20diets
• AMA. (2023). Ethical Obligations of a Medical director. Retrieved from https //code-medical-ethics.ama-assn.org/ethics-opinions/ethical-obligations-medical-directorsLinks to an external site.
• Barthold, Checchi, M., Imas, M., & Smolović Jones, O. (2022). Dissensual Leadership Rethinking democratic leadership with Jacques Rancière. Organization (London, England), 29(4), 673–691. https //doi.org/10.1177/1350508420961529
• Eichbaum. (2018). Collaboration and Teamwork in the Health Professions Rethinking the Role of Conflict. Academic Medicine, 93(4), 574–580. https //doi.