Conflict Management Styles as Perceived by Nurse Managers and Staff Nurses in a Tertiary University Hospital in the Philippines

Abstract

Conflict is inevitable in any industry, especially in the healthcare setting. Conflict poses detrimental effects as it imposes threats to the optimal functioning of clinical operations. The existence of conflict reduces productivity and efficiency, employee morale, and client satisfaction and affects service delivery in a healthcare system. It is paramount for healthcare leadership and management to employ effective and appropriate conflict management styles that consider employees' perspectives when managing a conflict situation in the workplace. Appropriate conflict management approaches shall be considered when addressing concerns to ensure that the entire organization benefits from the most advantageous outcome.

Nursing leadership and management must consider setting clear direction and expectations in identifying priority tasks to be managed, facilitating consensus decision-making among any parties involved in a conflict situation, and skillfully and judiciously utilizing conflict management styles like avoiding, competing, accommodating, compromising, and collaborating in managing conflict in the workplace.

This research paper determines the significant relationship between the conflict management styles used by nurse managers and staff nurses in a tertiary university hospital in Manila, Philippines. It measures the significant relationship between these styles and the demographic profile of the study's target participants.

The study result showed that both nurse managers and staff nurses preferred the use of collaboration, followed by compromising, accommodating, and avoiding styles in conflict management. Both study participants least preferred the use of competing styles. In determining the relationship of these styles with the demographic profile, only age is significantly related to compromising style. Educational attainment is associated with avoiding style. In addition, the use of conflict management style has no significant relationship with the area of assignment and tenure of service of study participants.

The study supported the idea that there is no sole conflict management style that is appropriate in all conflict situations. The use of these styles is dependent on the complexity of the problem, the parties involved, and the time needed to decide to resolve the problem. The study recommends conducting further research on the appropriateness and effectiveness of implemented conflict management styles and investigating other factors, such as organizational or personal factors, that affect the style to be implemented in resolving conflict. In addition, despite the lack of a significant relationship between training and conflict management styles, the study recommends that nurses undergo relevant and adequate training to improve their knowledge and skills in conflict management. The study also recommends conducting a similar research study with a bigger sample size of nurse managers in other institutions to understand how Filipino nurse managers address conflict in the workplace.