Background: Destructive conflict in nursing may result in nurses’ dissatisfaction, absenteeism and turnover and decreases quality of patient care. This study aimed to examine the level of conflict and its underlying causes among nurse managers (metronomes, supervisors, and head nurses).
Materials and methods: This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted on 269 nurse managers at hospitals related to Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2015. A valid and reliable questionnaire was used to identify the level of conflict and its causes. Data was analyzed using SPSS software through descriptive and inferential statistics.
Results: The mean of conflict among these nurse managers was 2.80 out of 5 (moderate). Heavy workload, resource shortage and bureaucracy were the main factors causing conflict at organizational level. On the other hand, differences in nurse managers’ knowledge, abilities, skills and personalities were the main personal factors causing conflict. Organizational factors were responsible for 84%of conflict in nurse managers. More conflict was observed in internal medicine, pediatrics and operation theatre wards. Conflict in specialized hospitals was higher than general hospitals. Also, there is a significant statistical relation between conflict level in nurse managers and their turnover intention (p=0.03, r=0.127).
Conclusion: In summary, nurse managers experienced an acceptable level of conflict. Such managers should keep conflict at an optimum level to increase the productivity.