Mental tricks to mend work relationships

In a demanding and high-risk workplace like the healthcare setting, flare-ups among coworkers can escalate very quickly. So how do you navigate the different personalities and specific stresses of the day to keep the peace and focus on the patients’ well-being?

“Dialectal Behavioral Therapy” techniques can give nurses efficient and easy-to-use ways to communicate effectively, build relationships and set limits while on the go. The acronyms for each skill make them even easier to use in high-conflict situations.

How to Get What You Need
Need something from your manager or a tough-to-approach doctor? Ask him or her for what you need by using the DEARMAN skill:

Describe the facts—facts that both you and the other person can agree upon.
Express how you’re feeling.
Assert your needs or make a request.
Reinforce for the other person why it would benefit him or her to do this for you. People usually want to know what’s in it for them.
Mindfulness—stay focused on the topic; take a break if things get difficult.
Appear confident (make eye contact, don’t apologize, be clear).
Negotiate (if needed, try to work with how the other person thinks this problem can be solved).

How to Repair a Relationship
So there was a flare-up between you and a fellow nurse. No one wants to feel the tension resulting from the incident every shift thereafter. You can repair or maintain your relationship with that coworker by using a skill called (perhaps not by accident) the GIVE skill:

Gentleness. Be gentle to start. Patients, coworkers and others will respond more readily to gentleness than harshness.
Interest. Be interested in the other person. Listen to what he or she has to say, be sensitive to what’s important to this person and be an active listener. People tend to feel better and respond positively when you are interested in their experiences and give them the time and space to respond to you.
Validate the other person’s feelings, wants, difficulties and opinions about the situation. It’s not necessary to agree with them; it’s only necessary to acknowledge the validity of the other person’s experience.
Easy manner. Use an easy manner—smile, be lighthearted and use a little humor. Remember that no one likes to be bullied.

How to Set Limits
Keeping burnout at bay takes planning. Know how to manage the day-to-day demands placed on you by your team by setting a limit and maintaining your self-respect by using the FAST skill:

Fairness. Be fair to yourself and to the other person.
Avoid excessive apologies. No apologizing for being alive, making a request or having an opinion.
Stick to your values. Be clear in what you believe and what your values are, and don’t sell out your own sense of integrity.
Truthfulness. Be truthful to the other person. Over time, lying about your values or opinions will erode your sense of self-respect.