ABSTRACT
The way nurses resolve conflict may be leading them to quit their jobs or leave the profession altogether. Conflict is inevitable in a dynamic organization. What is important is not to avoid conflict but to seek its resolution in a constructive manner. Organizational conflict is typically resolved through one of five strategies: withdrawal, force, conciliation, compromise, or confrontation. A recent study of nurses in three different hospitals showed that the approach they use most is withdrawal. This might manifest itself in a request to change shifts or assignments and may lead to a job change and, eventually, abandonment of the field altogether. Given this scenario, changing nurses' conflict resolution style may help administrators combat the nursing shortage. Healthcare organizations must examine themselves to determine why nurses so frequently use withdrawal; then they must restructure work relationships as needed. Next, organizations need to increase nurses' awareness of the problem and train them to use a resolution style more conducive to building stable relationships: confrontation. Staff should also be trained in effective communications skills to develop trust and openness in their relationships.
Subject(s)
Conflict, Psychological , Interprofessional Relations , Nursing Staff, Hospital/psychology , Problem Solving , Communication , Employment/psychology , Inservice Training , Nursing Staff, Hospital/supply & distribution , Personnel Turnover , Power, Psychological , Professional Autonomy , United States , Workplace/psychologyABSTRACT
Results form the present research suggest that leadership style may be different for day and night and shifts, the relationship between leadership and job satisfaction is different for night and day shift employees, and the relationship between leadership and performance appraisal is not different for day and night shift workers. Implications for shift workers and further research questions are discussed.
Subject(s)
Job Satisfaction , Leadership , Night Care/organization & administration , Nursing Staff, Hospital/psychology , Nursing, Supervisory/organization & administration , Adult , Employee Performance Appraisal , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Nursing Administration Research , Organizational Culture , Surveys and Questionnaires , United States , Work Schedule ToleranceABSTRACT
The two behaviorally oriented evaluation systems have as their major disadvantage the cost and difficulty of devising appropriate instruments. Their development can be time consuming and their use may require a separate instrument for each job category or subcategory being evaluated. Obviously there are different behaviors required of admitting clerks versus food service workers, hence requiring different evaluative tools. Furthermore, the required behaviors of surgical nurses and pediatric nurses will differ, requiring specially designed instruments. However, once the instrument is developed, the use of the behaviorally oriented evaluations will give a superior result. Since the instrument is specifically job related and less subjective in its scoring, the results of the evaluation better reflect the employees' actual performance and are more likely to stand up in court. Furthermore, since the orientation is toward behaviors rather than characteristics, the evaluation is less likely to be perceived as a personal attack by the individual receiving a substandard evaluation. Therefore, it serves as a better basis for improving performance since it identifies specific activities that need correction rather than personal characteristics that must change. Finally, the behaviorally oriented instrument may be seen as a much fairer evaluative tool by employees since they frequently have input into its development and can see that the behaviors measured are directly related to the accomplishment of job objectives. Likewise, employees will view the tool as fairer since it is much easier to challenge adverse scores based on objective evaluations than on those subjectively based.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Subject(s)
Employee Performance Appraisal/methods , Personnel Management/methodsSubject(s)
Administrative Personnel , Gender Identity , Identification, Psychological , Leadership , Nurse Administrators , Female , Humans , Male , Nursing, SupervisoryABSTRACT
Historically, management theorists have recommended the avoidance or suppression of conflict. Modern management theorists recognize interpersonal conflict as an inevitable byproduct of growth and change. The issue is no longer avoidance of conflict but the strategy by which conflict is resolved. Various strategies of conflict resolution and the consequences of each are discussed in this article, along with guidelines for the effective use of confrontation strategy.
