Perceived Conflict and Professionalism Among Nurses in a Tertiary Hospital in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The worldwide health care sector is changing rapidly, causing conflicts at work and this has led to extensive discussions on professionalism in healthcare settings. The study on the correlation between conflict and professionalism is currently lacking in terms of the necessary contextual information and relevant literature that could potentially fill this gap. The primary purpose of this study was to identify and examine the correlation between perceived levels of conflict, including interpersonal conflict, intrapersonal conflict, intergroup conflict, and intragroup conflict, and perceived level of professionalism, encompassing outlook on nursing as a profession, job position of the nurses, and the relationship of the nurse to the client/patient as well as the physician and other health team colleagues. It also examines the influence of socio-demographic profile on nurses’ level of conflict and professionalism. The researcher was motivated to contribute to addressing this issue. This Descriptive correlational study describes the variables and the relationships that occur between and among them. A total of 483 nurses working in the tertiary hospital were recruited using simple random technique. The Perceived Conflict Scale (PCS) and The Valiga Concept of Nursing Scale (VCNS) was used for data collection. The mean and standard deviation were utilized to describe the perceptions of participants and the variability of their responses regarding the perceived level of conflict and professionalism among nurses. Pearson Correlation analyzed the relationship between conflict and professionalism and chi square between nurses ‘conflict and professionalism and the sociodemographic profile of respondents. Generally, Nurses in the tertiary hospital have a high level of conflict except level of Intragroup Conflict which is low. Moreover, Staff nurses have a high level of professionalism and nurses’ perceptions of conflict and years of experience were not statistically significantly associated with one another. Furthermore, there was no significant correlation between the perceived level of professionalism and the sociodemographic characteristics of age, years of experience, and gender. However, nationality has been found to have a positive correlation with conflict and professionalism among nurses. Likewise, there is evidence indicating that there is no statistically significant correlation between overall conflict and the relationship between nurses and their clients, doctors, and health allied members. The outlook on nursing as a profession showed weak association with conflict. As the subscales of interpersonal, intrapersonal, and intergroup conflict increases, the level of professional outlook also increases. Additionally, it shows a correlation between intergroup conflict and job position of nurses. This highlights the importance of staff nurses and nursing management to comprehend the impact of professionalism in mitigating conflicts and taking proactive measures to resolve them before they escalate. This emphasizes the significance of reinforcing personal and leadership development, organizational training, and proactive conflict management frameworks that can enhance the overall organization.