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In the current labor dispute between Twin Cities’ hospitals and the Minnesota Nurses Association, the rhetoric would suggest that the two parties have completely opposite interests. Look closely, and you’ll see that is simply not the case. In fact, they share some important common ground.

When helping people through conflict, the parties often focus too much energy on their differences. Each presents its side and then does all it can to prove its case. In the hospitals/nurses dispute, they have stopped talking with each other and instead are appealing to the public in order to win sympathy for their respective positions. This competitive approach leads to winners and losers. It consumes huge amounts of time and energy. It destroys relationships.

So what’s the alternative? Working together so that everyone wins. The process starts by identifying common ground and building from there. It focuses on creating understanding of everyone’s wants and needs. The goal isn’t winning, but rather finding agreement. The nurses and hospitals might consider working from three powerful interests that they share.

1. Patient Safety. If hospitals did not care about patient safety, they would be working against their own interests. Not taking proper care of patients is bad for business. Horror stories travel fast and aren’t easily forgotten. People with a choice will not choose a hospital that they don’t trust. When something really bad happens, there will be lawsuits. Patients will die. Revenues will sink. A lower census will mean fewer nurses needed. A focus on patient safety is clearly in everyone’s best interest.
2. Employee Satisfaction. A variety of factors determine whether or not you like your job: The work itself, co-workers, pay and benefits, work rules and procedures, relationship with manager, and feelings about the employer are some of the most important ones. Nurses want to be happy at work, just like any employee. But why is this in the hospitals’ interest as well? Because satisfied employees work harder, provide higher quality care, and engage in creating a better enterprise. This also impacts the hospital’s ability to recruit great nurses. Word about working conditions at a hospital will find its way to prospective recruits. Nurses will choose to work in the hospitals about which they hear good things. For a hospital with a bad reputation, recruiting costs will spiral out of control.
3. Financial Health. This one is simple. If the hospital doesn’t stay on the right side of financial health, it doesn’t survive. This would be bad for managers, employees and the community. Now there can be some debate about what it means to be financially healthy, but there can be no reasonable debate about whether the hospital needs to consistently meet its financial obligations and have some left over to invest in the future.

So where do the two sides go from here? First, stop doing the things that create more animosity. Accusing the other side of being bad doesn’t help. Trying to get the public to take sides also doesn’t help.

Next, practice cooperative negotiation by beginning with common interests. Frame the issues neutrally and fairly. Share ideas and why they are important. Share concerns and why they matter. Listen so that each side feels heard and understood. Expand the discussion by considering a wide range of new possibilities, rather than hunkering down on the original positions. Be open to trying something new. Regardless of what the negotiators decide, it’s not forever. If it doesn’t work out, you’ll all be back at the bargaining table in just a few short years from now. Throughout the process, treat each other with respect and kindness like the co-workers (managers and nurses) that you are.

The process is hard, but not impossible. People and organizations discover solutions to tough problems every day. One will be found here as well. Just remember to pursue the right question. It’s not, “How do we prove our case?” Rather it is “How can we work together to make sure we meet our mutual interests?”

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