Conflict Resolution Styles among Nursing Staff Public Sector Hospital – A Cross Sectional Study

Nadira Hussain; Rukhsana Kousar; Muhammad Asif; Saima Bibi

doi:10.29054/apmc/2023.1298

Nadira Hussain MS Scholar, Department of Nursing, Times Institute Multan City Campus, Multan Pakistan
Rukhsana Kousar Assistant Professor, Department of Nursing, Times Institute Multan City Campus, Multan Pakistan
Muhammad Asif Professor, Department of Nursing, Times Institute Multan City Campus, Multan Pakistan
Saima Bibi MS Scholar, Department of Nursing, Times Institute Multan City Campus, Multan Pakistan

DOI: https://doi.org/10.29054/apmc/2023.1298

Keywords: Conflict, Nursing staff, Organization

Abstract

Background: Nurse conflict is commonly accepted to be a significant issue in healthcare settings all around the world. Identifying the conflict management style is an essential conflict management strategy. Conflicts between staff nurses, doctors, patients, and their families are common. Objective: The objective of the study was conducted to document the various types of conflict management that they encounter in their daily work. Study Design: Cross sectional study. Settings: A survey was conducted in Nishtar Hospital, Multan Pakistan. Duration: Two months from March 01, 2022 to April 30, 2022. Methods: Total 197nurses were enrolled. All the nurses working in wards, have more than 1 year of experience and willing to participate were enrolled in current study. A self-report questionnaire was distributed to collect data for the study. To measure the various conflict resolution styles, the validated Slovene translation of the "Thomas-Kilmann Conflict MODE Instrument" was utilized. Data was entered and analyzed by SPSS 25.0. descriptive analysis was conducted. Data was stratified for age and gender. Post stratification chi-square test was applied. P-value<0.05 was considered as significant. Results: Total 197 nurses were enrolled in current study among which 173(87.8%) were females and 24(12.1%) were males. Majority of the nurses were 20-30 years old 97(49.2%) and 31-40 years 59(29.9%). The most frequent strategy to resolve conflict was compromising 79 (40.1%), followed by collaborating 48(24.3%), accommodating 37(18.7%), avoiding 17(8.6%) and competing 16(8.1%). Females were more inclined towards resolving conflicts by compromising than males while avoiding conflict was less common among males than females. The results indicate a significant association between age and gender in terms of conflict resolution methods (P-value <0.05). Conclusion: The study concluded that the most common strategy was compromising collaborating and accommodating. The avoiding and competing was least common.