Practical Negotiation

Practical Negotiation

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Practical Negotiation

Scenario 1

Being a health care professional, it is my job to take care of my patients in the best way possible (Hammond & Williams, 1999). However, I am also human and I also do have some other priorities as well. My brother's marriage date was fixed and I need a holiday to attend the wedding. Last month I got an award due to my punctuality. So, getting a holiday was not difficult. I decided to discuss the matter with my head nurse. I told her that I had to attend my brother’s wedding so please grant me a holiday and to cover up my duty hours I will work on my off day. She immediately signed my application and approved my leave request.

Scenario 2

It was my dream to get a master’s degree in any field related to the health care profession. So, while I was working as a nurse in the morning I got admission to a master’s program in a well-reputed institute. I never wanted to miss this opportunity. So, I decided to discuss the issue with my head nurse. Although I was not sure about the outcomes yet I still tried. I wanted to change my shift time from morning to evening so that I can take classes in the morning. The first step to negotiate is to understand the perspective of the other person as well. So first I explained my problem to the head nurse. I explained that I need to get a master’s degree and I cannot bear my educational expenses without working. So, I need to keep my job as well. As I explained her my problem she told me to wait for the response from senior authorities. Due to the lack of nurses in a morning shift, it was impossible yet due to my genuine issue she forwarded my request to the authorities. After considering my issue the authorities allowed me to work for the evening shift but with one condition. They told me that as soon as I finish my degree I have to resume working in the morning shift. I accepted the offer as in negotiation you have to do some compromises as well.

Scenario 3

Staffing is an issue that every health care organization is facing. Due to increased workload nurses have to do extra work as well. However, our salaries are very low as compared to the work we do daily (Greenglass & Fiksenbaum, 2001). So, I discussed this issue with my head nurse that I need an increase in my salary as the work I had to do is too much as compared to the salary I get. Although I knew that I am unlikely to get a raise in my salary yet still I tried. After listening to my problem, the head nurse also agreed but she did not forward my request to the human resource department of our hospital (Litchfield, 2010). At first, I was very upset regarding this but then I decided to request a meeting with the HR manager so that I can share my concerns with him directly. HR manager called me in his office and asked about my concerns. I told him the whole issue but his first question was that if staffing is a real issue then why other nurses did not complain. I told him that they also wanted to discuss the topic but our head nurse did not forward our request. Despite all my efforts, he denied my request. I requested him to at least consider my request or at least acknowledge the lack of staff issues. Although he denied increasing my salary he told me that he will take action on the staffing issue (Lee & Kim, 2008). Even though I failed to negotiate regarding my salary but I have successfully explained the issue that our hospital was facing.

References

Greenglass, E. R., Burke, R. J., & Fiksenbaum, L. (2001). Workload and burnout in nurses. Journal of community & applied social psychology, 11(3), 211-215.

Hammond, K., Bandak, A., & Williams, M. (1999). Nurse, physician, and consumer role responsibility perceived by health care providers. Holistic Nursing Practice, 13(2), 28-37.

Lee, Y. J., & Kim, K. B. (2008). Experiences of nurse turnover. Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing, 38(2), 248-257.

Litchfield, S. M. (2010). Salary negotiations and occupational health nurses. AAOHN Journal, 58(5), 174-176.