Conflict Management in Healthcare Leadership; A Narrative Review

Abstract

Conflict resolution is not merely a skill but an essential leadership competency for healthcare professionals. Unaddressed conflicts can have detrimental consequences on patient care, team morale, and organizational productivity. This article delves into the significance of conflict management in healthcare, exploring its multifaceted impact and highlighting the role of leadership in fostering a conflict-resilient work culture. Understanding the root causes of conflicts, such as resource constraints, communication challenges, and differences in personal and professional characteristics, is crucial for developing effective prevention strategies. Healthcare leaders need to adopt proactive approaches to conflict management, emphasizing open communication, mutual respect, and collaborative problem-solving. The article explores various conflict management models, providing healthcare leaders with a toolkit for effective conflict resolution. It highlights the role of emotional intelligence and ethical leadership behaviors in conflict mitigation and discusses the need for a dynamic conflict management framework and its implications in the healthcare environment. It also outlines the need for self-assessment of conflict management skills, essential conflict management strategies and effective leadership tactics to resolve a range of conflict management challenges. It concludes by emphasizing the importance of early intervention and effective handling of conflicts by professional communication. The findings in this article provide a practical roadmap for developing conflict management competencies in healthcare leaders. Importantly, they unravel the nuances of potential conflict management approaches, warranted to establish a conflict-resilient culture in the clinical practice environment.