Comparison of the attitudes of hospital staff and managers towards manager's practice as regards conflict management in hospitals affiliated to Tehran University of Medical sciences, 2008-2009

The objective of this study was to determine and compare the attitude of hospital staff and practice of hospital managers regarding management of conflicts in hospitals affiliated to Tehran University of Medical sciences. The participants in this cross-sectional study were 330 individuals, including 300 nurses and 30 managers, working in hospitals affiliated to Tehran university of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran during 2008-2009. Data were collected using a valid self-administered questionnaire containing 30 questions designed by the investigator. The SPSS software was used for data analysis. The data show that 178 of the staff (59%) and 14 of the managers (47%) were of the opinion that avoidance is not utilized in conflict management. The proportions of the staff and managers believing that problem solution is not utilized in conflict management were 60% and 60%, respectively; the corresponding proportions as regards not utilizing avoidance were 178% and 14%. Furthermore, 40% of the staff and 13% of the managers thought that usually compromise is utilized in conflict management. Finally, the proportions of staff and managers who thought that in conflict management accommodation is utilized were 41% and 43%, respectively. The findings show that the hospital staff believes that hospital managers with an avoidance, problem solution or forcing attitude base their conflict management style accordingly, while managers more inclined to compromise do not utilize a compromising approach in practice.