Conflict management styles used by nurse managers in the Sultanate of Oman

Aim: The study aimed at investigating the conflict management styles used by nurse managers in the Sultanate of Oman.

Background: Conflict is inevitable in daily nursing work. Several styles are used to manage conflict situations. In previous studies conducted in Western countries, avoiding and compromising conflict management styles appear to be the first choices for the nurses. In Arab countries, no study to date has examined the conflict management styles used by nurse managers to compare with the results from studies conducted in Western countries.

Design: Survey.

Method: A questionnaire was distributed to all nurse managers working in the three-management levels from nine referral hospitals in Sultanate of Oman, 271 were returned, a response rate of 86%. The results were analysed using spss version 16.

Results: Nurse managers in Oman used all five conflict management styles, with integrating style as the first choice followed in order by compromising, obliging, dominating and avoiding. These results differ from the results of the studies conducted on nurses in other countries.

Conclusion: The results of this study have implications for people who work in the hospitals, whether practitioners or policy makers. Recommendations are offered to improve nurse managers' work environment.

Relevance to clinical practice: Conflict can affect patient care if handled badly. Poorly handled conflict results in lower staff morale and poorer retention, both adversely affect patient care.