How to Resolve Interdepartmental Conflicts: Strategies for Healthcare Leaders

Interdepartmental conflicts occur daily in every healthcare organization. Conflicts happen between team members when transferring patients (the rooms not ready; the nurse can’t take report now), dumping (orders not being implemented and left for the next department to do), and the pervasive condescension, intimidation, and incivility (ICU nurses acting like they’re smarter than the Step-Down nurses; and enough eyerolls and ‘tick-sighs’ to last a century!).

Why? Aren’t we all on the same team caring for the same patients with a goal of preventing harm? Yet we treat our colleagues (yes, they are professional colleagues) with disdain disrupting the culture of safety for the entire interprofessional team, the organization, and the patients we care for. Conflict is an age-old problem that we talk about within our own departments, but rarely do we openly talk about it as colleagues with an intention to resolve it even when it’s within the same service line (i.e., OR versus the PACU; L & D versus Post-partum).

These conflicts impact the entire professional team directly affecting a culture of safety, wasting time and energy, which leads to strained relationships among the entire team.

During this webinar, Dr. Renee Thompson will share evidence-based, practical strategies to resolve interdepartmental conflicts in healthcare.

Whether you’re a manager, director, educator, or in a position that requires you to interact with people from different departments, you will learn valuable strategies to make it easier!

By adopting simple strategies, you can create a healthy work culture between departments and teams too!

This webinar is sponsored by the Healthy Workforce Academy.

Webinar Date:

April 12, 2023 1-2pm ET

Register today to secure your spot!

"Renee's work is so vital for today's environment. I am quite sure every healthcare system is experiencing an uptick in volatile behavior. It is great to learn different ways to approach this and have our patients and staff feel safe."

"In my experience, I have found that leaders often ignore bullying and incivility. Having straightforward and actionable strategies to deal with bullying, incivility, and abuse is just what leaders need, and I have found the resource materials and webinars extremely helpful. Thank you."

"This webinar was incredibly practical and helpful! I better understand my own reactions to challenging families, and I have practical scripting in how to respond in a professional yet clear manner. The Healthy Workforce Institute never disappoints!"

"Loved this webinar. It provided insight into a topic that is emerging into healthcare and causing staff to leave their profession. Dr. Renee Thompson and Dr. Mitch Kusy provided effective strategies staff can use to identify and safely diffuse abusive situations while providing care to the patients in need. I highly recommend this webinar to anyone in the healthcare field."

"I attend a lot of webinars and yours was THE best. The content you and your co host, Dr. Mitch Kusy, delivered about patient and family abuse was evidence-based, practical, and actionable. You were engaging and so natural."

"I have been a nurse for 42 years and a leader for 18 years. I have learned a new skill with every webinar I have attended sponsored by the Healthy Workforce Institute. Thank you for providing engaging and necessary support."

“Renee really knows her audience as well as her subject matter. She's a clear, succinct and empathic presenter and offered a great many useful and easy to implement strategies in a short space of time. I'm now confident I'll be able to diffuse many an issue before it even escalates into a problem. Thank you!”

"The Healthy Workforce Institute provides tangible, easy-to-understand principles and tools that you can apply as a leader to improve culture immediately. The most recent webinar on speak up culture was just that. As a leader in the zoological industry, there are many parallels between nursing and zookeeping, and I’m happy to have found this resource."

“Renee provides practical solutions [webinar] to difficult problems from someone who has obviously ‘been there.’ Resources are spot on, topics are timely, and presentations are engaging for both leaders and frontline team members.”

“Renee's version of Gossip and Drama in the workplace is so spot on. When someone hears this seminar, they will automatically think of how they are themselves and as we all know, everyone can make an improvement to themselves.”

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January 2022: How to Shift from a Negative to a Positive Work Environment: Strategies for Healthcare Leaders
One of the most common complaints we hear from healthcare leaders is that their employees are so negative. In this webinar, Dr. Renee Thompson will show you simple practical strategies to shift your culture from negative to positive.

March 2022: How to Reduce Gossip and Drama in the Workplace: Practical Strategies for Healthcare Leaders
Gossip is a virus that slowly and subtly spreads through a department until it destroys it. The same is true for drama. In this webinar, Dr. Renee Thompson will show you simple practical strategies to stop the gossip and drama in your department.

May 2022: How to Stop Cyberbullying in the Workplace
Bullying and incivility aren’t just happening at work. They are now happening on social media platforms, via Zoom and Teams meetings, text messaging, and email. In this webinar, Dr. Renee Thompson will teach you how to address cyberbullying so that you can cultivate and sustain a professional and respectful work culture in person and virtually.

July 2022: What Is a Speak-Up Culture and Why Is It So Important?
Psychological safety and “speak up culture” are the new buzz terms. And rightly so. Studies show that when healthcare organizations create a safe place for employees to speak up, patients have better outcomes. In this webinar, Dr. Mitch Kusy will reveal evidence based, practical strategies to help leaders truly create a speak up culture.

October 2022: Reduce Bullying, Burnout, & Turnover
Bullying, burnout, and turnover are on the rise resulting in a decline in the health of workplace cultures. Leaders often feel helpless, not knowing how to address bad behaviors or hold individuals accountable, especially during a global staffing crisis. In this webinar, Dr. Renee Thompson will reveal evidence-based, practical strategies to help leaders transform the workplace by reducing incidents of bullying with positive effects on burnout and turnover.

These webinars are sponsored by the Healthy Workforce Academy.