Evaluate conflict management styles

Conflict Management in Heathcare

Week 11: Conflict Management

What do you think of when you read or hear the word “conflict”??Conflict, in itself, is a neutral phenomenon. Yet, it is typically thought of as a negative occurrence, particularly in organizations that rely on well-coordinated efforts to promote patient safety and other critical outcomes.?This week, you examine conflict as an essential, yet complicated, topic that must be addressed in every health care organization.

As a nurse leader, your preferred conflict-management style—and how you respond to the styles of the people you work with—can have a profound impact on your leadership effectiveness, the resolution of important issues, and patient and staff satisfaction. As such, for this week’s Discussion, you examine conflict management styles and assess strategies for dealing with conflict effectively.

Learning Objectives

• Evaluate conflict management styles

• Evaluate the impact of conflict management styles on leadership effectiveness

• Analyze conflict management strategies

Learning Resources: Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.

Required Readings

Marquis, B. L., & Huston, C. J. (2015). Leadership roles and management functions in nursing: Theory and application (8th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins.

Chapter 21, “Managing Conflict” ?This chapter explores the many facets of conflict, describes what contributes to conflict, and provides strategies for resolving conflict.

CPP. (n.d.). TKI. Retrieved July 24, 2012, from https://www.cpp.com/products/tki/index.aspx

Review the sample report and other items on the Thomas-Kilmann website. You may consider completing this assessment to better understand your conflict management style.

Eagar, S. C., Cowin, L. S., Gregory, L., & Firtko, A. (2010). Scope of practice conflict in nursing: A new war or just the same battle? Contemporary Nurse, 36(1/2), 86–95.Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

This article focuses on creating nursing teams as rapid change occurs within health care. The authors state that for a team to successfully handle conflict, there have to be clear boundaries, minimal confusion, and maximum communication.

Johansen, M. L. (2012). Performance potential. Keeping the peace: Conflict management strategies for nurse managers. Nursing Management, 43(2), 50–54.Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

“Handling conflicts in an efficient and effective manner results in improved quality, patient safety, and staff morale, and limits work stress for the caregiver,” (p. 50). This article presents strategies for managing conflict. Review the methods suggested and consider how you might be able to apply them in the workplace.

Williams, S. (n.d.). Understanding conflict and conflict management. Retrieved from http://www.wright.edu/~scott.williams/LeaderLetter/conflict.htm

This short editorial delineates the major points of conflict resolution.

Discussion: Conflict Management Styles

In Week 10, you considered how ethical, moral, and legal dilemmas can provoke internal conflict when a nurse’s values are not in alignment with the apparent demands of a situation or with others’ values, as well as external conflict that can arise as these dynamics are played out. Of course, conflict can also emerge through seemingly simple issues of little consequence—little consequence, that is, except when they are not properly managed.

Nurse leaders need to be familiar with conflict management styles and the impact these styles can have on interpersonal dynamics, and, ultimately, patient care. For this Discussion, you evaluate a situation marked by conflict and consider how conflict management strategies could be applied to promote positive results.

To prepare:

• Consider a conflict situation you witnessed or were engaged in within your practice setting. Then, proceed as follows:

o Think about who was involved, how it was resolved (if it was), and how it might have been handled more effectively.

o Identify the conflict management style(s) employed by various individuals, including ineffective responses or no response to the situation.

o Evaluate your personal response to this conflict.

• What do your thoughts and actions in this and other conflict situations reveal about your typical approach to conflict?

By Day 3

Post a description of how you handled or avoided a conflict, as well as the results of your approach. Explain how would you respond to this conflict today and/or what steps you would take to improve your comfort level and skill for managing conflict in the future (including specific conflict management strategies you would use). Explain how conflict management relates to your effectiveness as a leader.

Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.

By Day 6

Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days using one or more of the following approaches:

• Ask a probing question, substantiated with additional background information, evidence or research.

• Share an insight from having read your colleagues’ postings, synthesizing the information to provide new perspectives.

• Offer and support an alternative perspective using readings from the classroom or from your own research in the Walden Library.

• Make a suggestion based on additional evidence drawn from readings or after synthesizing multiple postings.