Conflict & Intra-professional Relationships at the Workplace - Research Paper Example

WORKPLACE CONFLICT & INTRAPROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIPS Conflict & Intra-professional Relationships at the Workplace Intra-professional relationships as the name indicates refer to the relationships between two or more employees or between employees and management at a workplace. Interaction among individuals at workplace is sometimes conflicting, leading to what is termed as workplace conflict due to faulty intra-professional relationships. According to Masters and Albright (2002), work place conflict is a set of attitudes or behaviors of colleaguesat workplace that affect the lives of those who work with them. Workplace conflict has long been viewed as an all negative thing, but the truth is that it is neither all positive nor all negative; it has both positive and negative implications (Masters & Albright, 2002; Duddle & Boughton, 2007). Conflicting intra-professional relations however increase the level of job stress among workers. Many studies have verified this (Healy & McKay, 2008 & McVicar, 2003). Different people use different coping strategies to manage workplace conflicts (masters & Albright, 2002). The way a workplace conflict is handled is the actual determinant of whether the effects of the conflict will be positive or negative. Perception of conflict is a subjective behavior and varies from person to person, but this perception is a factor that affects the coping strategy to be used greatly (McVicar, 2003). Like all fields of work, workplace conflict and conflicting intra-professional relations are also present in the field of nursing. In fact, one study by Hutchinson and colleagues (2006) also confirms the presence of Bullying in a sensitive profession like nursing. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview on conflict and intra-professional relationships in the field of nursing by presenting a critique of two prescribed journal articles in the same field. Almost, J. (2006). ‘Conflict within nursing work environments: concept analysis’. Journal of Advanced Nursing, vol. 53, no. 4, pp. 444-453.  This article is by Joan Almost, who is a faculty member of nursing at the University of Toronto, Canada. Titled ‘Conflict within nursing work environments: concept analysis’, this article was accepted for publication on the 27th of July, 2005; and was published in the Journal of Advanced Nursing in 2006, volume 53, issue 4. The article is based on a theoretical literature review of available academic material on workplace conflict within nursing, aimed at explaining and exploring the process of work place conflict. The data was collected by searching some popular online academic databases for relevant articles submitted in the last 25 years. Stockhausen & Conrick (2002) have suggested in this regard considering a variety of online database resources in order to broaden the scope of the research. Although the study was literature review based, the researcher did utilize a number of online databases which is a plus point of this study and speaks for its broad scope. Rodger’s evolutionary concept analysis was utilized to classify and analyze data. The study was exploratory in nature, and attempted to explore the theory underlying workplace conflict. The findings identified that causes of workplace conflict are classified as individual, organizational and interpersonal, while the factors responsible for the style of dealing with the conflict include perception of conflict and individual conflict management style. The consequences of workplace conflict include both negative and positive impacts on interpersonal relationships and other effects at individual as well as organizational level. The author has concluded that there should be more research on how to avoid this conflict and that priority should be given to prevent conflict rather than resolving it after it has occurred. Target audiences for this article, for whom it was intended appear to be the researchers in the field and also the nurses themselves. The article identifies areas for further research which can be useful for imminent researchers in the field and also explains the process of conflict which can be utilized by professionals in the nursing field to better understand conflict when they are faced with it. Drawing from the theory presented in this article, nurses who have read this should be in a better position to understand the antecedents of their work place conflict and also to anticipate the effects of the same. Work place and intra-professional relations conflict and related concepts are covered in the article in detail with focus on the process of conflict, its antecedents and its consequences. A need for change in the way conflict is dealt with is supported by the author. A need for further research on expanding and explaining the process of workplace conflict in the nursing profession has also been identified by the author. The aim of this article is to identify and highlight the causation and effects of conflict at workplace in the field of nursing. The most attractive feature of this paper is the visual representation of the findings which enable the readers to engulf and digest the findings at a glance and understand what the research is all about (Limb, 2001). However, one shortcoming of this article is that the rationale and justification for undertaking the research is not stated clearly in the introduction. Though the researcher has mentioned the aim in the abstract, but according to Greenhalgh (1997), the introduction must also justify the purpose and need of undertaking the research. Duddle, M & Boughton, M. (2007). ‘Intraprofessional relations in nursing’, Journal of Advanced Nursing, vol. 59, no. 1, pp. 29-37.  Article Titled ‘Intra-professional relations in nursing’ was submitted jointly by Maree Duddle (who is a faculty member of nursing and midwifery at the University of Sydney, Australia) and Maureen Broughton) who is Pro Dean at the same department of the University of Sydney, Australia). The article was approved to be published on 11trh of March, 2007 and was published in the same year, in the Journal of Advanced nursing, volume 58, issue 1. This research report aiming at understanding the nurses’ perceptions on intra-professional relations at workplace is based on a study conducted with three groups of participants, belonging to the same hospital. The study was qualitative and no statistical analysis was applied to the collected data. Participants were selected via purposive sampling technique. The research tools were unstructured interviews and conversations with the participating nurses. An ethical approval was obtained from the concerned authorities before conducting data collection and confidentiality and anonymity of the participants was promised and ensured. The data analysis revealed three prevalent themes in intra-professional relationships: difficult intra-professional relations, negotiating the territory and resilience as a way of coping with work place conflict. The authors concluded that studying these themes and taking required action to reduce intra-professional conflict among nurses’ at workplace can lead to an increase in registered nurse retention in hospitals and decrease in work place stress among nurses. Target audiences for this article consist of the nurses and nursing management. The article highlights useful coping strategies used by different nurses to cope with everyday workplace intra-professional conflicts and also a clear picture of nature and reasons of these conflicts for the awareness of nursing management so that they can take required steps to prevent the development of such negative intra-professional relations at the workplace. The article has comprehensively covered the intra-professional issues of nursing. The authors also point towards a need of change in the nursing management style and divert the reader’s attention towards the issues faced by nurses while they interact with each other at the work place. This broadly focused article also covers the emotional aspect of nursing at the same time. Basically the authors intend to make the nursing managements and nurses realize the common reasons of intra-professional conflicts and how to cope with them. The research report is nicely composed and well structured throughout. The main strength of this paper is the use of direct quotes from the participants as means of presenting the data directly. According to Limb (2001), it is an effective measure for presenting qualitative data. However, one shortcoming of the article is that the process of data analysis is under-stressed. Hoefl (1997) and Limb (2001) suggest that the steps involved in analyzing qualitative data must be discussed in detail. This article simply states that the transcripts were read and re-read to determine themes but does not provide the step wise procedure undertaken during this process of coding and categorization of data from interview transcripts to form themes. Conclusion It can be concluded in light of above review and critique of articles, that conflict at workplace in nursing can have positive as well as negative effects. The nature of effects depends on the coping strategies used by the individuals and on the subjective perception of conflict as well. Several factors can contribute to workplace conflict including interpersonal, individual and organizational factors which can lead to positive as well as negative consequences for both, individuals and the organization which they are part of. Factors which influence nurses’ intra-professional relations include: lack of support of senior colleagues, work load stress and sensitivity of the profession due to patient involvement. From this critique and review of the prescribed articles, I have learnt the importance of knowing effective coping skills and being aware of how and why conflicting intra-professional relations occur. I have learnt that the nature of consequences of the conflict depend greatly on how the conflict is perceived and what coping skills are applied in dealing with the conflict. This knowledge will assist me in avoiding detrimental conflict at workplace and has placed me in a better position to analyze the process of workplace conflict by identifying its possible causes and anticipating its positive and negative consequences based on subjective perception of the conflict and coping skills applied in such a case. I am confident that this knowledge gained via review of these articles will assist me in coping with workplace conflicts for the better in my professional life. References Almost, J. (2006). Conflict within nursing work environments: concept analysis. Journal of Advanced Nursing. Vol: 53 (4), p. 444-453.  Duddle, M & Boughton, M . (2007) Intraprofessional relations in nursing. Journal of Advanced Nursing. Vol:59 (1), p. 29-37.  Greenhalgh, T. (1997). Getting your bearings in How to read a paper: the basics of evidence based medicine. London: BMJ Publishing group.  Healy, C.M & McKay, M.F. (2008). Nursing Stress. Journal of Advanced Nursing. Vol: 31 (3), p. 681-688. Hoepfl, M. C. (1997). Choosing qualitative research. Journal of technology education. Vol: 9 (1). Hutchinson, et.al. (2006).Workplace Bullying in nursing: towards a more critical organizational perspective. Nursing Inquiry. Vol: 13 (2), p. 118-126. Limb, M. (2001). Reading and understanding research reports, in C Bassett (ed.) Implementing research in the clinical setting, Whurr, London.  Masters,M.F & Albright, R.R. (2002). A complete guide to conflict resolution in the workplace. New York: AMACOM. McVicar, A. (2003). Workplace stress in nursing. Journal of Advanced Nursing. Vol: 44 (6), p. 633-642. Stockhausen, L & Conrick, M. (2002). Making sense of research: a guide for critiquing a paper. Contemporary Nurse. Vol: 14 (1), p. 38-45.  Read More