Use of scenarios to explore conflict management practices of nurse unit managers in public hospitals

BACKGROUND: Workplace conflict is common among nurses globally. Learning how to manage it may reduce related adverse consequences. Inappropriate management of conflict is attributed to decreased productivity, poor morale and financial loss for organisations. Nurse unit managers can play a key role by effectively managing workplace conflict in the units. OBJECTIVES: To explore how nurse unit managers manage conflict in public hospitals and subsequently to make recommendations on how to optimise conflict management skills of nurse unit managers. METHOD: A qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual study was conducted to explore how nurse unit managers managed conflict based on a scenario provided to them. Purposive sampling was used to select nurse unit managers working in three public hospitals. Eleven nurse unit managers participated in the study. Data were collected in two phases. In phase 1, a conflict scenario was developed in consultation with experienced nurse managers. The conflict scenario was used during phase 2, which involved individual face-to-face semi-structured interviews with nurse unit managers until data saturation. Tesch’s method of thematic synthesis was used to analyse the data. Literature review was undertaken to ascertain what is considered as an appropriate intervention in conflict management. RESULTS: Three themes emanated from data analysis: nurse unit managers managed conflict appropriately, nurse unit managers avoided the conflict and nurse unit managers managed conflict inappropriately. CONCLUSION: While some of the nurse unit managers managed conflict appropriately, additional and continuous education and training is required to optimise the capacity and develop their conflict management competency. The findings could be integrated into orientation, training and preparation of nurse managers by health care organisations and educational institutions.