Conflicts are unavoidable in our daily lives, arising from our behaviors and interpersonal skills differences. Health care organizations are complex, with varying job ambiguity and intricate independent relationships which cause stress and conflicts. Conflicts manifest in different forms, including roles, communication, personality, value, and goal conflicts. Complexities related to healthcareinclude enormous workloads, unmet expectations from colleagues, time pressure, and critical decisions regarding life and death that contribute to conflicts (Tosanloo et al., 2019). Other causes of conflicts include change, limited resources, varied expectations, lack of clearly defined expectations and roles, disparities in professional values, and unhealthy competition among individuals (Alshammari & J. Dayrit, 2017). Conflicts interfere with clinical outcomes and reduce job satisfaction among individuals.
Successful conflict resolution starts with the awareness of our emotions and feelings and those of others. After that, people recognize these concerns as respectable and relevant. The nurse leader uses different styles of managing conflicts, including collaboration, accommodation, compromise, avoidance, and force (Cherry and Jacob, 2019).In avoidance, the conflicting parties do not address or engage in the situation. The leader withdraws or uses passive behaviors to solve the conflict.In accommodation, one individual or party puts their goals aside to satisfy the other person’s desires. In compromise the nurse leader instructs both parties to forego the issue for the partial attainment of goals. In collaboration, the leader actively engages both parties in ending with a win-win situation. Both parties leave the discussion table feeling satisfied and with nothing lost. Lastly, force or competition involves parties trying to achieve their goals at the expense of others. Different strategies are appropriate for different situations.
The transformational leadership style would best address conflicts. Marquis and Huston (2017) observe that transformational leaders can inspire others with their vision, encourage followers to be innovative and creative, follow high morals, and treat people with great compassion and care. Therefore, transformational leadership would be appropriate in mitigating conflicts. A leader who does more than dictating, directing, and delegating is needed in such situations. It would call for inspiring, motivating, moving, and enabling people to attain their highest potentials through appropriate conflict resolution.
Alshammari, H. F., & J. Dayrit, R. D. (2017). Conflict and Conflict Resolution among the Medical and Nursing Personnel of Selected Hospitals in Hail City. IOSR Journal of Nursing and Health Science, 06(03), 45–60. https://doi.org/10.9790/1959-0603014560
Cherry, B., & Jacob, S. R. (2019). Contemporary Nursing: Issues, Trends, & Management (8th ed.). Mosby.
Marquis, B. L., & Huston, C. J. (2017). Leadership Roles and Management Functions in Nursing: Theory and Application (9th ed.). Wolters Kluwer Health.
Tosanloo, M. P., Adham, D., Ahmadi, B., Rahimi Foroshani, A., &Pourreza, A. (2019). Causes of conflict between clinical and administrative staff in hospitals. Journal of Education and Health Promotion, 8. https://doi.org/10.4103/jehp.jehp_54_19
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