Level of Conflict in Public Hospitals

Abstract

Hospital conflicts arise in the process of joint work. They may have a negative impact both on medical professionals and teams providing medical care, but they may also provoke a positive effect in the activity of the medical establishment. The level of conflict is an essential indicator reflecting the actual and potential conflicting relationships in the working teams. Systematic tracking of conflict helps to identify actual and potential conflicting relationships and to implement effective measures to solve them and prevent their negative consequences. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to assess the level of conflict in teams providing medical care. Material and methods: By means of direct individual poll was studied the opinion of 302 medical employees at four general hospitals on the territory of the town of Plovdiv and town of Asenovgrad, Bulgaria. Of all respondents, 223 (73.8±2.53%) were healthcare specialists and 79 (26.2±2.53%) were physicians. A. Velichkov’s Questionnaire for Assessment of Conflicting Relationships in the Organization was used to assess the extent of impaired relationships at the workplace and to determine the existing level of conflict in hospitals. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and non-parametric analysis at a significance level for the null hypothesis p<0.05. The statistical analysis was performed using SPSS v. 16. Results: Medical professionals evaluated the working environment in hospitals as highly conflicting. The assessment of relationships between medical professionals showed that high levels of conflict are predominant in men than in women. There is a tendency to reduce the level of conflict with the increase of age and service of the medical professionals. Conclusion: The level of conflicting relationships that has been established indicates that medical professionals face a high risk of real conflict when practicing their profession. The data are indicative of the presence of unsolved or inadequately managed conflicts in teams providing medical care, which are determined by sex and age. This finding implies that given the specificity of the profession they pursue – a high-risk profession, medical professionals work in a situation of permanent conflict. In the event of an objective problematic situation or threat, they actively enter into conflict.