Nikolaos Neokleous

and 1 more

Introduction: Hospitals as well as other Health Organizations are stressful work environments with a heavy workload. This is the main reason why conflicts between the workers come to fruition in this environment. Employees express their dissatisfaction with the confrontational environment, their harmonious cooperation is disturbed, which ultimately has a negative impact on the provision and degree of quality of health care. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the management of conflicts between medical staff in state hospitals. It was examined which individuals’ doctors usually argue with, how and why do they react to the conflict, what are the main causes of conflicts and how they are resolved. It will be examined also whether or not there are any differences between hospitals or between medical specialties or between professional levels. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was carried out at February 2023 among the members of State Health Services Organization and Pancyprian Union of Government Physicians. A single two-part questionnaire was used for sampling. The first part consists of demographic and professional characteristics of the participants medical workers and the second part deals with the management of conflicts. The analysis of the data was done using the statistical package IBM SPSS Statistics version 29.0.0.0 (241). Statistical significance was defined as p<0.05. Results: The survey involved 103 people, the majority were men (53.4%), with more than 15 years of work experience (43.7%) and with open-ended job position (55.3%). 79.6% of the sample was found to be likely to collide with a colleague, 52.3% with a doctor of the same specialty and 23.3% with the same and another specialty, of the same and another hospital. As a way to react to the conflict, 31.1% chose to collaborate and only 4 people to use mediator, of which 75% said that for mediation they would choose their supervisor. Conclusions: The development of an environment of justice and cooperation in the health areas is necessary and presupposes the optimal settlement of conflicts. In a working environment such as that of hospitals, it is necessary to transmit the culture of team spirit and cooperation. Thus, managers play a primary role through their attitude and their actions. Educational actions should therefore be organised regarding the improvement of communication, the expansion of emotional intelligence and conflict management techniques.