Conflict

Conflict management is a major component of a nurse manager's role. How conflict is defined and subsequently approached can determine if its outcome is a positive, growth-enhancing experience, or, if instead, it will have lingering negative effects destined to resurface, provoking further conflict. When conflict progresses without effective intervention, others are drawn, or triangled in, and it becomes difficult to determine how, why, and with whom the conflict began. Approaches range from total avoidance to a fully invested, collaborative process of resolution. The collaborative response demands significant management involvement; however, its outcome can be the discovery of new and better practice opportunities, benefiting all involved.