Correlation between nurses’ conflict level and application of negotiation styles by head nurses in general hospitals of Boushehr Province (2007)

Background: Conflict and dispute are inevitable phenomena in man’s life and considered as necessity of social activities. Healthcare system, especially nursing ward is susceptible to develop kinds of conflict that must be directed and controlled by head nurses. Negotiation as an advantageous, effective and factual method is known to resolve the conflict. Objective: This research intended to investigate the correlation between nurses’ conflict level and head nurses negotiation styles at general hospitals in province of Boushehr. Methods: This was a kind of correlation study carried out in a given time course in 2007. The study population consisted of 362 nurses and 53 head nurses from general hospitals in Boushehr province south of Iran. Two questionnaires including the Dubrin conflict and Pierre negotiation styles questionnaires were used to collect data based on literature survey. Descriptive and analytic statistics were used for data analysis. Findings: Results showed that the nurse's conflict level was located at average level except for Fatemeh Zahra Hospital in which a high level of conflict was observed. Head nurses had overuse of factual, analytic and normative negotiation style with only proper use of initiative negotiation style. There was a reverse correlation between the nurse's conflict level and the use of negotiation styles yet no significant difference between these variables was demonstrated. Conclusion: Hospital managers must recognize the causes of conflict to properly handle it. There are some important chances in hospitals with average level of conflict to improve the performance and produce creativity. These opportunities could be used as competitive advantage in health markets. Head nurses must learn conflict resolving skills such as negotiation but they must also use these skills correctly and adjust their negotiation styles on the basis of special situations.