Within the field of healthcare today, there are many challenging roles all wrapped into
one with Charge Nurse being the most challenging role of them all. With members of the
healthcare workforce spanning in age over f
...
Within the field of healthcare today, there are many challenging roles all wrapped into
one with Charge Nurse being the most challenging role of them all. With members of the
healthcare workforce spanning in age over five generations, these age differences can result in
conflict amongst the team and organization. They can pose unique challenges for the manager
and members of the group – the manager will always have to think of ways to resolve conflict
and to make the environment a happy medium. When cooperation with other departments,
performance, and shift scheduling suffer from these conflicts, management must take a fierce
look at their leadership style and quickly determine the changes needed to be efficient and
effective as well as a successful leader of the multigenerational workforce.
Identification of Conflict
Currently, as the Charge Nurse of a 42-bedded Pediatric unit, I am overseeing a staff of
40-45, which consists of members from the millennials, Gen Xers, veterans, and baby boomers.
With our group currently in a transition phase from paper charting to the implementation of both
the electronic medical record as well as barcoded medication scanning, there has been chaos on
the unit dealing with the differences amongst the generations during this course of significant
change in workflow.
These changes in workflow seem to have ignited the process of disagreement; there have
been conflicts before this culture change, which attributed to generational descriptors of work
values, intergenerational conflicts seemed to be surrounded by key themes. These themes include
work-life balance, productivity, communication methods and styles, the future of the public
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MULTI-GENERATIONAL WORKFORCE 3
sector, leadership techniques and styles, and organizational change. It is essential for the success
of my Pediatric unit that I have an enhanced understanding of these differences in generational
perceptions to work toward a successful resolution.
Critical Strategies for Resolution of Generational Conflict
Charge Nurses and those within the public sector deal with the challenge of creating a
technique to retain and motivate highly skilled older employees who are transitioning out of the
workplace while remaining attractive to lesser qualified younger employees who are entering the
workplace (Bright, 2010). Because, within the field of healthcare, multiple generations are
working together, attention on each of their orientations is important when lowering the possible
issues (Haynes, 2011).
Before coming up with a resolution, there is an intangible framework drawn from the
specialties of management and sociology that must be understood as a pacesetter to confirm the
trail to success, Mannheim's theory of generations. This theory teaches us that individuals are
greatly influenced by the socio-historical climate (events that are notable for which they were
actively involved) of their childhood or youth, yielding generations that become change agents,
and provides rise to events that, in turn, mold and shape future generations (1952).
Also, with the understanding of Mannheim's theory of generations, a Charge Nurse must
also employ strategies formed from the opinion of diversity management. Wyatt-Nichol and
Badu Antwi-Boasiako (2012) indicated that the concept or theory of diversity management
originated from Thomas (2011). Thomas defined diversity management as the capability of a
leader to make decisions of the highest quality amid similarities, differences, and related
complexities and tensions. Our employees represent us from a variety of preferences and
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MULTI-GENERATIONAL WORKFORCE 4
backgrounds, personnel in human resources have come to appreciate diversity management
strategies as critical to the performance of organizations as a whole (Wyatt-Nichol & Badu
Antwi-Boasiako, 2012).
In keeping in line with the previously discussed framework as well as theory, there are
five strategies that I, as a Charge Nurse, can employ to deal with and promote conflict resolution
within my unit. The first is simple, and that is the definition of issues. Secondly, policies must be
developed in a manner to address the problems identified while maintaining adherence to the
overall goals of the institution. Next, and very importantly, these policies must be made known to
all staff in a method that they prefer and can understand easily. Once there is an understanding of
systems, and regardless of feelings toward policies or conflict, all staff members must be held
accountable to comply with procedures. Finally, the last strategy for success is the continuation
of evolvement through innovation and through staying current and knowledgeable of best
practices in healthcare management.
Evaluation of Leadership Style
Through the conduction of research on different methods for dealing with conflict within
a multigenerational workforce, I have found that as a Charge Nurse, I need to be more receptive
to these differences and make sure that I am not favoring one group's perspective over another's.
I have felt that some of my older staff members were stubborn, and I now see that I was
assuming without much knowledge and have been biased by believing in my perspectives, which
caused me to experience personal frustration as a lead. I should have appreciated the
opportunities to use those highly skilled employees to help shape the lesser experienced younger
nurses. I also see that I need to adjust the way that I communicate
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