How nursing administrators view conflict

Fifty-one nursing administrators attending an institute on administration were asked to respond to two questions: "What is good about conflict?" "What is bad about conflict?" Findings indicated that nursing administrators: made more positive than negative statements about conflict, associated conflict's effects to be greater on people than on task accomplishment, indicated that conflict had greater intrapersonal than interpersonal effects, believed that the beneficial effects of conflict on task accomplishment lie in the realm of problem resolution, and reported that the major negative effects of conflict on task accomplishment were felt on productivity. These findings underscore the complex nature of conflict and its benefits and costs to the individual, organization, and nursing administrator. Views of these nursing administrators are in concert with contemporary behavioral science literature which suggests that conflict is necessary for organizational growth and is not automatically symptomatic of organizational pathology.