title: Individual, interpersonal, and organisational factors of healthcare conflict: A scoping review.
abstract: Unresolved conflicts among healthcare professionals can lead to difficult patient care consequences. This scoping review examines the current healthcare literature that reported sources and consequences of conflict associated with individual, interpersonal, and organisational factors. We identified 99 articles published between 2001 and 2015 from PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and Excerpta Medical Database. Most reviewed studies relied on healthcare professionals' perceptions and beliefs associated with conflict sources and consequences, with few studies reporting behavioural or organisational change outcomes. Individual conflict sources included personal traits, such as self-focus, self-esteem, or worldview, as well as individuals' conflict management styles. These conflicts posed threats to one's physical, mental, and emotional health and to one's ability to perform at work. Interpersonal dynamics were hampered by colleagues' uncivil behaviours, such as low degree of support, to more destructive behaviours including bullying or humiliation. Perceptions of disrespectful working environment and weakened team collaboration were the main interpersonal conflict consequences. Organisational conflict sources included ambiguity in professional roles, scope of practice, reporting structure, or workflows, negatively affecting healthcare professionals' job satisfactions and intent to stay. Future inquiries into healthcare conflict research may target the following: shifting from research involving single professions to multiple professions; dissemination of studies via journals that promote interprofessional research; inquiries into the roles of unconscious or implicit bias, or psychological capital (i.e., resilience) in healthcare conflict; and diversification of data sources to include hospital or clinic data with implications for conflict sources.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Surgery , University of Washington , Seattle , Washington , USA.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: b Unit of Development and Research in Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine , University of Geneva , Geneva , Switzerland.
authors.forename: Naike
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bochatay
authors.affiliation: c Department of Radiology , University of Washington , Seattle , Washington , USA.
authors.forename: Annemarie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Relyea-Chew
authors.affiliation: a Department of Surgery , University of Washington , Seattle , Washington , USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Buttrick
authors.affiliation: d University of Washington , Seattle , Washington , USA.
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Amdahl
authors.affiliation: e Compensation & Pension , Loma Linda VA Healthcare System , Loma Linda , California , USA.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: f Wound and Ostomy , University of Washington Medical Center , Seattle , Washington , USA.
authors.forename: Elise
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Frans
authors.affiliation: g Department of Urology , University of Washington , Seattle , Washington , USA.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mossanen
authors.affiliation: d University of Washington , Seattle , Washington , USA.
authors.forename: Azhar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khandekar
authors.affiliation: h Foster School of Business , University of Washington , Seattle , Washington , USA.
authors.forename: Ryan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fehr
authors.affiliation: i Department of Medical Humanities , Korea University College of Medicine , Seoul , South Korea.
authors.forename: Young-Mee
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003142:Communication; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000523:psychology*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008603:Mental Health; D010551:Personality; D024382:Professional Role; D012919:Social Behavior; D012944:Social Support; D017132:Workplace / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Collaboration; communication; conflict; interprofessional relations; scoping review