Conflict styles observed in doctors and nurses in health care organization

Abstract

Introduction. Health care workers often come into conflict situations while performing their daily activities. People behave differently when they come into conflicts and they are usually not aware of their own reactions. The aim of this paper was to establish the presence of conflict styles among health workers and the differences in relation to demographic characteristics (education, working experience, managerial position). Material and Methods. The research was done as a cross-sectional study and through surveys. The conflict handling questionnaire was used as the research instrument. The questionnaire contained 30 statements arranged in five dimensions of conflict styles. The sample included one hundred nurses and fifty-five doctors. Results. The research showed that accommodating was the most often used conflict style. There was no significant difference in styles of managerial and non-managerial staff, but there was a significant difference in the styles adopted by doctors and nurses. It should be noted that nurses used avoiding and accommodating conflict styles much more often. Conclusion. It is important to increase the awareness of conflict existence and the possibility of solving the problem constructively in order to achieve more efficient duty performance.