Conflict Management in Nursing Essay example

Conflict is generally defined by four criteria: expressed tension, interdependence, perceived incompatible goals, and the need for resolution (Wood,

The nurse as a leader looks to achieve a workable unity. (Gardner, 2007) In an interdisciplinary format this is vitally important. There will be many factors that will prevent group cohesion and mutual tolerance in any environment. In an emotionally charged setting this is especially true. The nurse can help to manage conflict and promote a positive environment. This can

Conflict is simply a disagreement or argument that can occur between two individual, groups of people in an organisation or between an employer and an employee.

In team settings, individual team members generally handle conflict in five key ways as identified in an adaptation of the Thomas-Kilman Conflict Inventory (1976): Avoidance, Accommodation, Competition, Compromise, and Collaboration. All five conflict styles can be both beneficial and/or costly to individual and team success. It can also be argued that all five conflict styles may be useful to resolve conflicts under certain circumstances. Please review the five conflict styles listed below:

Nurses require effective interpersonal skills to enable them to manage conflict, which can be an inevitable component of busy workplaces with high service demands. Work environments often have a diverse range of staff and patients with potentially conflicting

Kale and McCullough (2003) in conferring the five conflict levels make note that conflict is defined as “power struggles over differences”. The authors note the following “based on our definition, then, we will discuss five levels. The first two are really pre-conflict levels followed by three levels of actual conflict. Our levels are as follows: Awareness of Differences, Confronting the Differences, Power Struggles, Fight or Flight and Intractable”.

Everyone has to deal with conflict: both in the workplace and personal lives. Fresh nurses too have to witness this at their new work setting.

Conflict, according to Wilmot & Hocker (2011), is defined as an expressed struggle between at least two interdependent parties who perceive incompatible goals, scarce resources, and interference from others in achieving their goals.

Many people do their best to avoid conflict at all costs, but it is an occurrence that everyone must deal with from time to time. Understandable, the avoidance of conflict is glamorous, however learning how to handle the conflicts can make them seem less bothersome. Learning how to manage conflict is a key factor in becoming a manager and the execution of that learning can be very different from manager to manager. Shanker (2013) describes conflict management styles as an equation involving the disposition of the manager, range of situations the manager finds themselves in, specific strategies, and individual intentions. Every manager is different in their conflict management style, but the act of confrontation is present in most conflicts.

Conflict is inevitable in life and in the workplace, but conflict can be positive or negative. Disputes can arise due to personality conflicts, misunderstandings, difference in opinions, lifestyles, values, and beliefs. Having any understanding that conflicts do arise and how to approach such issues is vital to the success of any team and organization. Thomas and Kilmann have identified five conflict handling modes within a two-dimensional taxonomy (Borkowski, 2016). According to Borkowski (2016), the two dimensions of the taxonomy are assertiveness and cooperativeness, and the five conflict handling modes include (1) competition, (2) avoidance, (3) compromise, (4) accommodation, and (5) collaboration (p. 315).

Conflict naturally occurs in the health care environment. Conflict, in the right quality and quantity, can produce growth. Conflict in large amounts, or if managed poorly can negatively impact motivation and productivity (Marquis and Huston, 2015). Conflict resolution is critical to a healthy work environment, because a breakdown in communication and collaborations can lead to patient care errors (Johansen, 2012).

According to Ballangrud (2017), Teamwork is described in terms of behavior, cognitions and attitudes that make interdependent performance possible and is defined as the interaction or relationship of two or more health professionals who work interdependently to provide care for patients. The critical components essential to patient safety are effective teamwork and sufficient communication. When we see the absence of these two components within a unit or facility it often leads to an increase in adverse events for patients. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that between 3 and 16% of all patients treated in hospitals are affected by adverse events. The absence of a collaborative unit is an independent cause of multiple failures

Conflict is “an expressed struggle between at least two interdependent parties who perceive incompatible goals, scarce resources, and interference from others in achieving their goals” (Hocker, 1991). There are two basic types of conflicts: substantive and emotional. According to Schermerhorn et.al., substantive conflict is a fundamental disagreement over ends or goals to be pursued and the means for their

Obvious communication, listening, and understanding the focus of the dispute are the factors for being effective. Nursing managers may often be involved in a conflict as an individual, an administrator, or a unit representative. A manager is expected to confront staff when a discord develops (Sullivan, 2018). It is also imperative a nurse manager abides by her professional responsibilities and executes practical conflict resolution techniques to diminish low morale and stress among her staff (McKibben, 2017). She must modify her conflict management skills to a likely situation (Saeed et al., 2014). In order for the nurse manager to handle the conflict, it is helpful to understand the people involved. Positive management promotes mutual respect, refines working relationship, and restores staff retention (McKibben,

Conflict is a word with no shortage of definitions but common to most of those definitions is the idea that conflict is a perception (Robbins and Judge 2015, p.400). Conflict is most generally a process that begins when one party perceives that another party has negatively affected, or is about to negatively affect, something the first party cares about (Robbins and Judge 2015, p.401). The conflicts people experience in organizations are numerous with examples of such conflicts