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Published on: February 16, 2011
Conflict management styles in the health professions
Susan Sportsman1, Patti Hamilton
1College of Health Sciences and Human Services and Minnie Rhea Wood Professor of Nursing, Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls, TX 76308, USA. susan.sportsman@mwsu.edu
Summary
Nursing and allied health students exhibit distinct conflict management styles. While nursing students prefer compromise, allied health students favor avoidance, with educational levels not significantly impacting choices.
Area of Science:
- Healthcare Education
- Conflict Resolution
- Health Professions
Background:
- Understanding conflict management styles is crucial for effective healthcare team collaboration.
- Previous research has not extensively compared conflict styles between nursing and allied health students.
- Identifying prevalent styles can inform educational strategies and improve interprofessional dynamics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify dominant conflict management styles among nursing and allied health students.
- To compare conflict management styles between these two student groups.
- To examine the relationship between educational level, licensure, and conflict style preferences.
Main Methods:
- A convenience sample of 126 students from nursing and allied health professions participated.
- The Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI) was used to assess conflict management styles.
- Data were analyzed to compare styles across disciplines and educational levels.
Main Results:
- No significant differences in prevalent conflict management styles were found between graduate and undergraduate nursing students and allied health students.
- Licensure status and educational level did not correlate with chosen conflict management styles.
- The prevalent style for nursing students was compromise, followed by avoidance; for allied health students, it was avoidance, followed by compromise and accommodation.
- Over half of participants utilized two or more styles, primarily avoidance and accommodation.
- Collaboration was infrequently chosen as a primary style (9.8%).
Conclusions:
- Conflict management style preferences differ between nursing and allied health students, with implications for interprofessional education.
- Educational level and licensure do not appear to influence conflict style selection in these student populations.
- Nurse educators, researchers, and administrators should consider these findings to foster better conflict resolution skills within healthcare education and practice.
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