Abstract
Objective
In the health care sector, intercollegial conflict is inevitable. Such conflict may
have an adverse effect on employee turnover, workplace morale, and patient safety
and care. Conversely, skillful management of conflict may result in beneficial change
and improvement. Improved conflict management (CM)/dispute resolution (DR) knowledge
for health care professionals (HCPs) has been shown to reduce the negative impacts
of conflict. This study aimed to determine whether HCPs feel equipped to manage collegial
workplace conflict and whether they feel there is a need for CM training.
Methods
An electronic survey was developed to determine the attitudes, experience, and background
training HCPs have had with CM, as well as whether respondents felt they needed CM/DR
training. The survey was emailed to 660 HCPs in 2013 at Sunnybrook Health Sciences
Centre, Toronto, Ontario.
Results
The response rate was 46% (303 of 660). Of 303 respondents, 128 (42%) reported previous
formal training in CM/DR, but only 80 of 303 (26%) felt adequately trained to manage
conflict and resolve disputes in the workplace, with 59% believing they need more
conflict training. Among respondents, 76% wanted to see these skills incorporated
into their own career training opportunities, but only 34% were aware of courses available
to improve their CM/DR skills, and 50% stated they would be interested in taking such
courses; 79% wanted to see these skills incorporated into medical school curricula.
Conclusion
This needs assessment survey found that most HCPs did not believe that they have adequate
training to manage workplace conflict comfortably, and they felt more training is
needed in CM/DR.
Résumé
Objectif
Dans le milieu des soins de santé, les conflits interprofessionnels sont inévitables.
Ces conflits peuvent cependant avoir des conséquences négatives sur le roulement des
employés et le moral au travail, ainsi que sur la sécurité des patients et les soins
qui leur sont prodigués. En revanche, la capacité à gérer les conflits peut entraîner
des changements positifs. En effet, il a été démontré que l’amélioration des connaissances
en gestion de conflits (GC) et résolution de conflits (RC) chez les professionnels
de la santé permettait d’atténuer les conséquences négatives des conflits. Cette étude
avait pour but de déterminer si les professionnels se sentaient bien outillés pour
gérer des conflits interprofessionnels en milieu de travail, et s’ils jugeaient avoir
besoin de formation en la matière.
Méthodologie
Nous avons créé un sondage électronique visant à déterminer les attitudes, l’expérience
et la formation de base des professionnels de la santé en matière de GC. Les répondants
devaient également indiquer s’ils estimaient avoir besoin de formation en GC/RC. Le
sondage a été envoyé par courriel à 660 professionnels, en 2013, au Sunnybrook Health
Sciences Centre, à Toronto.
Résultats
Le taux de réponse a été de 46 % (303 répondants sur 660 sondages envoyés). Parmi
les répondants, 128 (42 %) ont mentionné avoir déjà suivi une formation structurée
en GC/RC, mais seulement 80 (26 %) se sentaient adéquatement formés pour gérer et
résoudre des conflits en milieu de travail; 59 % des répondants jugeaient d’ailleurs
qu’ils auraient besoin de formation supplémentaire. Parmi les répondants, 76 % désiraient
que les compétences de GC/RC soient ajoutées à leurs occasions de formation professionnelle,
mais seulement 34 % connaissaient des cours offerts sur ces compétences. De plus,
50 % des répondants ont indiqué qu’ils souhaiteraient suivre des cours dans ce domaine.
Enfin, 79 % désiraient que ces compétences soient ajoutées aux programmes d’études
de médecine.
Conclusion
Ce sondage a révélé que la plupart des professionnels de la santé estimaient ne pas
posséder la formation nécessaire pour bien gérer des conflits en milieu de travail
et qu’ils auraient besoin de formation supplémentaire en matière de GC/RC.
Key Words
Abbreviations:
CM (conflict management), DR (dispute resolution), Ob/Gyn (obstetrics and gynecology)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: November 07, 2018
Accepted:
March 26,
2018
Received:
January 14,
2018
Footnotes
Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Presented as “Conflict in the Health Care Sector at the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada Annual Clinical Meeting, June 2014, Niagara Falls, ON; and as “Conflict in the Health Care Sector: Why can't we all get along?” at University of Toronto's Obstetrics and Gynecology Annual Research Day, May 2013, Toronto, ON, where it was awarded best resident presentation.
Identification
Copyright
Copyright © 2019 The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada/La Société des obstétriciens et gynécologues du Canada. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
