Skills That Are Required by a Newly Graduated Registered Nurse - Coursework Example

of essay’s assignment is due Transition to nursing Table of contents Introduction Interpersonal relationship skills 2 Strategies for conflict resolution 3 Leadership development 6 The role of a registered nurse 7 Conclusion 8 References 8 Introduction This paper discusses the interpersonal relationship skills that are required by a newly graduated registered nurse who is new to the workplace and the skills essential to socialization. The strategies needed for the new graduate to cope with conflicts will also been discussed. The need for nurse leadership and the role of the registered nurse in health, the workplace and safety will be discussed. The scenario used to analyse these four aspects is one involving an obese patient. In this scenario, the new graduate nurse has been rotating shifts throughout the month, and on one particular day, the nurse has five patients to take care of, one of whom is the obese woman. After taking care of the patients, the nurse needs help moving the obese patient. An older more experienced registered nurse tells the new nurse that no wards are available to help move the obese patient. The older nurse claims that the new nurse simply has time management problems. Interpersonal relationship skills New graduate nurses learn about, come to identify and adapt to the workplace by a process of socialization. The experiences that new graduates have at the workplace have importance consequences in terms of performance, altitudes and productivity. To the nurse, socialization opens doors to opportunities available at the workplace as well as career development. It is the responsibility of every individual new graduate nurse to learn how they can fit in the workplace. As a new graduate who has just completed a four-day night duty stint with just one day off, the pressures of the job can be overwhelming. Currently, five patients need to be taken care of. Four of these patients need to have their needs met before 9.00 am when Mrs W is due for a wound care assessment. The first step to successful socialization is that a new graduate nurse needs to adjust his or her expectations and confront the reality of the new job. For instance, the reality in this case is that the nurse will have to work long hours and will get minimal rest. Deadlines have to be kept and that calls for the nurse to be on time all the time. The second skill that a new graduate nurse needs to adopt is achieving role clarity. The new graduate needs to learn but also negotiate what their role in the workplace expects and requires (Halfer 2007, pp. 17-29). This way, the new graduate will know exactly what is required of him or her and will avoid confusion in the workplace. In this case, the nurse knows that she is supposed to take care of five patients. The nurse is clear on the fact that Mrs W is obese and needs three people to move her. A third skill that is crucial to socialization in the workplace for new graduates is locating themselves in the workplace. This way, the new graduates will learn the contribution of their work to the workplace. This is an important skill as it motivates the new graduate because they will get a sense of their contribution to the workplace (Ammentorpa 2006, pp. 270-287). The new graduates can learn that they should not be demoralised when their efforts go unnoticed. The fourth and most important skill is assessing the success that the new graduates have gathered. The new graduate gets to know how valuable their contributions are to the workplace (Vivar 2006, pp. 201-216). In this scenario, the nurse was successful in attending to Mrs W’s urgent needs such as cleaning her, as well as attending and meeting to the needs of the other four patients. Another skill that new graduates should learn is developing a social network and co-worker relations. This way, if the new graduate needs help with moving Mrs W, her co-workers would be glad to help. The new graduates also need to develop an expertise in their role and task. The new graduates should also become a member in a group of fellow nurses. Relationship building is the most important step in the process of socialization. In fact, being a new graduate, it is easier for them to build relationships when compared to older hires. Strategies for conflict resolution New graduates bring different needs, beliefs, goals, ideas and values to their new workplace. These differences between new graduates and other hires are a primary strength for teams. However, it is inevitable for conflicts to arise because of these differences. There are five skills that can help resolve conflicts in the workplace. These are competing, avoiding, accommodating, compromising and collaborating. These skills are neither wrong nor right, but they can be used in a wrong or right way. The skills can be categorised as being either assertive or cooperative. Competing is a useful strategy when unpopular decisions need to be made, quick action needs to be taken, when one needs to protect their self interests or when vital issues must be handled (Joan 2010, pp. 112-136). Using competing as a strategy means that the new graduate will have to be assertive but have low cooperation. In such a case, the new graduate argues or debates, asserts his or her feelings and opinions, stands their ground no matter what and makes sure that they state their position clearly. This strategy is useful especially if the new graduate has gained some influence probably by being popular with the other nurses. Avoiding is a strategy used by a nurse with low assertiveness and low cooperation. Avoiding conflicts is common with people when they either do not have confidence in how they manage conflict or are afraid of engaging in conflict. In the case where the registered nurse with 34 year of experience tells the new graduate that no wards will avail themselves to help move Mrs W, it is understandable that the new graduate will avoid confrontation. This is an appropriate strategy as it will allow the new graduate to buy time and reduce the understandable tension caused from working long hours. Since the registered nurse is in a position of higher power, it is wise to avoid confrontation. Skills that are necessary for one to avoid a confrontation are the ability to step-side issues, withdraw, leave things unresolved and have a good sense of timing. Accommodating is a strategy that involves high cooperation and low assertiveness. Accommodating is appropriate when the new graduate nurse needs to show that they are reasonable, create good will, develop performance or keep peace. A confrontation about wards availing themselves to move Mrs W is of low importance, and this is the why accommodating mode is useful. A problem can arise with accommodating people during confrontations if the new graduate chooses to use accommodating to keep tally. For instance, keeping a record of how many times one has accommodated another person, without communicating about the tally, and expecting the same favour to be returned will prove to be a disappointment. Skills that are crucial to accommodating are forgetting one’s desires, being selfless, having the ability to yield and being able to obey orders. Compromising might be perceived either as either parties winning or one party giving up more than they initially wanted (Siu, Spence & Finegan 2008, pp. 250-269). Compromising requires the parties in conflict to have moderated cooperation and moderate assertiveness. When one is dealing with issues whose importance is moderate, or when one has a strong commitment to seeing that the conflict is resolved, then compromising is the best strategy. Compromising only works well when both parties that are in conflict have an equal power status. When time is a constraint as is the case with an understaffed workplace, compromising should be used by the nurses to solve the conflict albeit temporarily. Skills that are crucial to a successful compromising strategy are negotiating, finding a middle ground, making concessions and assessing value. The strategy of collaborating has both high assertiveness and cooperation. In order to achieve the best possible conflict resolution, an idea is put on top of another idea which is then put on top of another idea (Bondas 2006, pp. 332-359). Multiple individuals aimed are resolving the conflict will contribute to a creative solution. Because collaborating has such a positive outcome, it is always the best conflict strategy that the new graduate nurse should use. Collaboration requires that there be enough time and energy if it is to be a successful strategy. Since initial parameters for how the new nurse, the wards and the rest of the staff for how they can work together effectively, the collaborating strategy can prove to be quite useful. Collaborating is appropriately used in times when relationships need to be improved, when the new graduates are learning, when merging perspectives, when compromise is too expensive a choice since issues raised in the conflict are too important or when gaining commitment. Strategies that are crucial to collaborating successfully are confrontation that is nonthreatening, active listening, identifying concerns and analysing input. Leadership development As the number of older people continues to rise and the current leaders reach their retirement age, there has been an intense spotlight one who will take the place of leadership in health care organizations (Cummings et al. 2008, pp. 240-258). The past decade has seen a dramatic evolution in the role of the nurse leader. The super clinician or the manager who managed other managers yesterday is today an executive in the workplace who is responsible for the majority of the operating budget and the facility’s staff. In every nursing practice in the world there is evidence that nursing leadership is alive and well. Effective health care and nursing leadership is critical in health promotion, health care reform, client care and policy development. New registered nurses should involve themselves in the imperative ongoing development and emergence of new nurse leaders. The capabilities, skills and insights gained by new registered nurses enable them to grow further and emerge as leaders (Perry & Potter 2009). By serving as a leader, a new registered nurse will learn and develop their skills in leadership. Observing leaders does not make the new registered nurse a leader. The new registered nurse can only become a leader once he or she has hand-on experience exercising leadership. Once the new registered nurse takes up leadership, he or she will notice that developing as a leader is a process. Challenges will be faced by the new registered nurse as he or she progresses through his or her career. The need for leadership and for new registered nurses to become leaders emerges from the fact that there will always be need for change and people need leaders who can help them with the changes. Nurse leaders are also required to assist in resolving conflicts that will always emerge because of limited resources and challenges to traditional roles. People also need nurse leaders to guide them in realising visions and new directions. Through effective nurse leadership, the conflict between the new graduate and the experienced registered nurse would have been resolved appropriately (ed. Barker 2009). The role of a registered nurse Human beings are the main educational concern in basic nursing education. However, this education equips nurses on how to contribute uniquely to promoting health in the working population. The nurse is usually the first point of contact with patients because of the usual direct access. When a nurse shows that they are approachable and ready to help patients who need advice, the patients consciously make time to talk to the nurse (Kroning 2010). Listening is a vital tool for registered nurses, as the nurse is usually is a common ground between management and staff when discussing the social well-being, health and quality of patients. Registered nurses may be asked questions by patients on topics that go beyond traditional health needs. For instance, a patient may ask questions concerning a spouse. Whether or not a patient asks a registered nurse a question that is directly related to health, the nurse id responsible for assisting such a patient because the questions and doubts the patient has may affect their concentration and performance at work (Perry & Potter 2009). Listening and solving any problems a patient has is a means by which a registered nurse can avoid bigger problems that may arise in the future. The registered nurse should always be available and assessable to the patient. Whenever the patient has a problem, the registered nurse should be available at the workplace to help the patient. The registered nurse is responsible for promoting and protecting the health of people. Obstacles can be overcome by early intervention and support of patients. Conclusion This paper has discussed the interpersonal relationship skills that are required by a newly graduated registered nurse who is new to the workplace and the skills essential to socialization. The strategies needed for the new graduate to cope with conflicts have also been discussed. The need for nurse leadership and the role of the registered nurse in health, the workplace and safety have been discussed. References Ammentorpa, J 2006, The effect of training in communication skills on medical doctors’ and nurses’ self-efficacy: A randomized controlled trial, PEC Journal, vol. 66, no. 3, pp. 270-287, viewed 31 August 2010, < http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0738399107000067>. Barker, AM (ed.) 2009, Advanced practice nursing: Essential knowledge for the profession, Jones & Bartlett Learning, viewed 31 August 2010, < http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=ahSt98VK-L8C&printsec=frontcover>. 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