Leadership and Management Report: Resolving Nurse Staff Conflicts

This report delves into the critical issue of conflict resolution within nursing staff, a vital topic within leadership and management. It identifies various types of conflicts, including interpersonal, intergroup, and interprofessional conflicts, highlighting their causes such as communication problems, pers...Read More

Solving Conflicts among Nurses Staff
Introduction
This subject was selected as it is relevant to change in management and also issues in leadership and
management. Conflict is one of the major issues that can take place in any organization more often in
hospitals where most of human interaction occurs(Amestoy et al., 2014). Nurses have played a variety of
roles in hospitals such as managers, care providers, and educators(Higazee, 2015). These roles usually
lead to various types of interaction among nurses and with other healthcare workers and such conflicts
can arise.
Most Common Types of Conflicts
Interpersonal conflicts- This is a type of conflict which arise between one nurse and another due to
various differences such as personal grudge and poor communication between them(Amestoy et al.,
2014).
Intergroup conflicts- This type of conflicts occurs when one group of nurses disagree with another group
due to factors such as racism, ethnicity, personal interest, and differences in ideas(Jerng et al., 2017).
Interprofessional conflicts- This is the most common type of conflicts that occurs in hospital especially
between nurses and doctors. Such conflicts arise due to a feel of inferiority complex, disruption of
nurses by doctors, lack of mutual understanding for the benefit of the patients and poor
communication(Spagnol et al., 2010). Nurse Manager needs to take care when it comes to inter-
professional conflicts as nurses usually see it as a form of betrayal when they become neutral
which can further because more conflicts.
Factors Leading To Conflicts
There are various factors and issues that can lead to conflicts among nurses and other health care
teams. These include organizational structure, Misunderstanding, communication problems, lack of
resources, roles disputes, personal differences and lack of professional commitment(Higazee, 2015). In
most cases, communication problems usually cause conflicts among nurses. Managers need to teach
nurses about effective communication strategies that they can develop to make sure they build good
relationships among nurses and also with other healthcare professionals(Jerng et al., 2017). In addition
to that, it is the responsibility of a nurse to make sure she or he understands and has good
communication knowledge and skills. This is due to the fact that, other than fellow nurses, they are
responsible for dealing with patients and their families directly(Spagnol et al., 2010).
Lack of professional commitments and personal differences are other major causes of conflicts. When
nurses abandoned their work or ignore some of their commitments, other staffs feel frustrated due to

work overload and long working hours and thus bringing up complaints which lead to conflicts and
disputes. Nurse Managers work to make sure all nurses on duty are responsible and always finish their
shifts to avoid disputes.
Strategies for Conflicts Resolution
Due to the fact that an organization with a lot of conflicts cannot work smoothly, nurse leaders and
manger are usually equipped with knowledge and skills for solving conflicts among nurses. Such
strategies include the following;
 Dealing with the situation as it is- Nurse Managers may at time encourage the parties with
conflicts to deal with the situation they have. This includes setting personal differences aside
and trying to get the solution that fit them equally(Santos et al., 2016).
 Mediation- Nurses leaders usually act as mediators in solving conflicts where both parties
cannot find a common consensus by themselves. This involves listening to both parties at
conflict and finding a solution that will fit them both(Burke, Walker, & Clendon, 2015).
 Effective Communication- effective communication among nurses is one of the major factors
that encourages good relationships among nurses and thus preventing conflicts. Good
communication encourages friendship among staff, mutual understanding and correct passage
of information from one nurse to another(Burke et al., 2015).
 Apologies where appropriately-Sometimes simple words ‘I am sorry’ ‘forgive me’ can do a lot. It
is the responsibility of a nurse manager to encourage nurses to keep apologizing to each other
where they do wrong to avoid moving matter to the worst.
Implication to Nursing
Hospital is a friendly environment where those with both physical and psychological problems seek help.
Nurse’s managers are responsible for mediating conflicts situation. In that case, therefore, they need to
understand the causes of conflicts and various methods of resolving them(Rentmeester, 2014). A good
organizational structure usually has a good working environment where all staffs have a smooth and
friendly relationship. Such characteristics are usually associated with improvements in clinical practice,
patient care, and quality outcomes(Santos et al., 2016). As a nurse manager, identifying, analyzing and
dealing with conflicts at hospitals is vital as it promotes the work of other nurses and prevents
interference of services provided.
Future Recommendations
Nurse’s leaders and managers have the responsibility of marinating a cool, smooth working
environment in hospital in order to promote patient care. This can be archived in various ways one of
them being solving conflicts among staff(Mallon, 2017). Solving conflicts among staff requires nurse
managers to develop a foundation of which conflicts have low chances of happening(frankel, 2012). This
includes creating an organizational structure that clearly portrays the functions and responsibility of
each and every individual.

In addition to that, nurse managers need to make sure all staff receives correct and enough resources
during their practice. Sharing of resources usually induces disputes and thus enough for each and every
induvial can highly minimize conflicts.
Other than that, nurse managers need to understand situations that are likely to bring up conflicts. This,
in turn, will enforce them with enough skills for conflicts prevention and solving.

References
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(2014). Conflict management: challenges experienced by nurse-leaders in the hospital
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Burke, A., Walker, L., & Clendon, J. (2015). MANAGING INTERGENERATIONAL NURSING TEAMS:
EVIDENCE FROM THE LITERATURE. Kai Tiaki Nursing Research.
frankel, a. (2012). What leadership styles should senior nurses develop? | Practice | Nursing Times.
Higazee, M. Z. A. (2015). Types and Levels of Conflicts Experienced by Nurses in the Hospital Settings.
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Jerng, J. S., Huang, S. F., Liang, H. W., Chen, L. C., Lin, C. K., Huang, H. F., … Sun, J. S. (2017). Workplace
interpersonal conflicts among the healthcare workers: Retrospective exploration from the
institutional incident reporting system of a university-affiliated medical center. PLoS ONE.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0171696
Mallon, M. (2017). Leadership Development. Public Services Quarterly.
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Rentmeester, C. A. (2014). Challenges for Policy Makers and Organizational Leaders: Addressing Trends
in Mental Health Inequalities. International Journal of Health Policy and Management.
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Spagnol, C. A., Santiago, G. R., Campos, B. M. D. O., Badaró, M. T. M., Vieira, J. S., & Silveira, A. P. D. O.
(2010). [Conflict situations experienced at hospital: the view of nursing technicians and auxiliaries].
Revista Da Escola de Enfermagem Da U S P. https://doi.org/S0080-62342010000300036 [pii]