Exploring the Relationship Between Conflict Management Styles and Patient Satisfaction in Healthcare Settings in Jordan from the perspective of healthcare staff employees: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

Year 2025, Issue: 8, 16 - 23, 11.07.2025

Samer Makahleh , Abdulkareem Iblasi

https://doi.org/10.26650/CURARE.2025.1604565

https://izlik.org/JA78CN97ML

Abstract

Objective: This study explores how five administrative conflict management strategies (ACMS)—competition, avoidance, compromise, accommodation, and collaboration—affect patient satisfaction in healthcare organisations within the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

Method: Patients and healthcare professionals from three public and three private hospitals from 18 hospitals in Jordan were surveyed using a descriptive-correlational design. Two validated questionnaires were used to recruit a stratified random sample: a patient satisfaction survey (Cronbach's alpha = 0.79) and a 28-item ACMS evaluation instrument (alpha = 0.81). The evaluation focused on the quality of nursing care, admissions processes, and the overall hospital atmosphere. The staff response rate was 82.8%, while the patient response rate was 85.9%.

Results: Healthcare staff emphasised assertiveness and self-interest, favouring the competitive conflict management style (M = 3.40, SD = 0.73). The least favoured approach was avoidance (M = 3.03, SD = 0.79). Collaborative problem-solving efforts were evident in the second-ranked collaboration. Patient satisfaction scores (M = 3.94, SD = 0.83) reflected a positive evaluation of hospital services, with admission processes receiving the highest ratings.

Conclusion: Enhancing organisational effectiveness and patient satisfaction in the healthcare industry necessitates effective conflict management. The results underscore the importance of interventions that tackle structural and cultural factors influencing conflict dynamics while promoting assertive and cooperative strategies among Jordanian healthcare workers. This study establishes a foundation for future research and valuable advancements in conflict resolution techniques within the medical field.

Keywords

Conflict management styles , patient satisfaction , healthcare staff , healthcare settings

References

• 1 Shah, S. A., Asif, M. A., Shoukat, M. H., Polatci, S., & Rehman, S. U. (2022). QualitY management practices and inter-organisational project performance: Moderating effects of inter-organisational communication, relationships, and process conflicts in healthcare. SAGE open, 12(3), 21582440221113829. google scholar
• 2 Afzalur Rahim, M. Toward a theory of managing organizational conflict. International Journal of Conflict Management, 2002; 13(3), 206-235. google scholar
• 3 Piryani, R.M. & Piryani, S. Conflict management in healthcare. 2018. google scholar
• 4 McKibben, L. Conflict management: importance and implications. British Journal of Nursing, 2017; 26(2), 100-103. google scholar
• 5 Awalluddin, M., & Maznorbalia, A. A sYstematic literature review of the preferred organisational conflict management stYles in MalaYsia. Environment and Social PsYchologY, 2023;8(2),1-13. google scholar
• 6 Almost, J., Wolff, A. C., Stewart-Pyne, A., McCormick, L. G., Strachan, D. & D’Souza, C. Managing and mitigating conflict in healthcare teams: an integrative review. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 2016; 72(7), 1490-1505. google scholar
• 7 Mosadeghrad, A.M. & Mojbafan, A.Conflict and conflict management in hospitals. International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, 2019;32(3),550-561. google scholar
• 8 Aberese-Ako, M., Agyepong, I. A., Gerrits, T., & Van Dijk, H. ‘I used to fight with them but now i have stopped!’: conflict and doctor-nurse-anaesthetists’ motivation in maternal and neonatal care provision in a specialist referral hospital. 4.4 [JP] Plos one, 2015;10(8),e0135129 google scholar
• 9 Olajide, A. T., Asuzu, M. C., & Obembe, T. A. Doctor-nurse conflict in Nigerian hospitals: causes and modes of expression. 2015. google scholar
• 10 Karimi, A., Yektayar, M., Nazari, R. and Mohammadi, S. Conflict management strategy of sport teachers and its influence on student athletic motivation in schools in Gorgan City. European Journal of Experimental Biology, 2013;3(2), 420-424. google scholar
• 11 Rahim, B.A. & Bonoma, T.V.Managing organizational conflict: A model for diagnosis and intervention. Psychological Reports, 1979; 44(3_suppl), 1323-1344. google scholar
• 12 Hirsh, J. B. & Kang, S. K. Mechanisms of identity conflict: Uncertainty, anxiety, and the behavioural inhibition system. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2016;20(3), 223-244. google scholar
• 13 Akanbi, K.L. Impact of conflict management dynamics on staff performance In tertiary healthcare institutions in North-central, Nigeria. Kwara State University (Nigeria), 2020. google scholar
• 14 Al-Hamdan, Z., Norrie, P. & Anthony D. Conflict management styles used by nurses in Jordan. Journal of Research in Nursing, 2014;19(1), 40-53. google scholar
• 15 Alalawneh, E., Abdelkader, R., Iblasi, A., Alkouri, O., Aburuz, M. and Ababneh, A. Factors associated with adherence to prevention guidelines of pressure injuries among Jordanian nurses in critical care units. Journal of Tissue Viability, 2025;14(1),100853. google scholar
• 16 Iblasi, A.S., et al., First-line Nurse Managerial Competence and Its Influencing Factors in Public Jordanian Hospitals. Nurse Media Journal of Nursing, 2024;14(2), 175-184. google scholar
• 17 Al-Ayed, M., Moosa, S. R., Robert, A. A., & Al Dawish, M. Anxiety, depression and their associated risk factors among patients with diabetic foot ulcer: A two center cross-sectional study in Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research & Reviews, 2021;15(1),237-242. google scholar
• 18 Daibes, M. A., Iblasi, A. S., Korkmaz, F. D., Oden, T. N., & Elagoz, I. Assessing pressure injury knowledge among Jordanian and Turkish nursing students: A cross-cultural comparison. Journal of Tissue Viability, 2024. google scholar
• 19 Smama’h, Y., Eshah, N. F., Al-Oweidat, I. A., Rayan, A., Nashwan, A. J. The impact of leadership styles of nurse managers on nurses’ motivation and turnover intention among Jordanian nurses. Journal of Healthcare Leadership, 2023; 19-29. google scholar
• 20 Nimer, A., Naser, S., Sultan, N., Alasad, R. S., Rabadi, A., Abu-Jubba M. . . Aborajooh, E. Burnout syndrome during residency training in Jordan: prevalence, risk factors, and implications. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2021;18(4),1557. google scholar
• 21 Thomas, K.W. Thomas-kilmann conflict mode. TKI Profile and Interpretive Report, 2008;1(11). google scholar
• 22 Westbrook, K. W., Babakus, E. & Grant, C. C. Measuring patient-perceived hospital service quality: validity and managerial usefulness of HCAHPS scales. Health Marketing Quarterly, 2014,31(2),97-114. google scholar
• 23 DeVellis, R.F. Scale development: Theory and applications. Vol. 26. 2016: Sage publications. google scholar
• 24 Jones, P. S., Lee, J. W., Phillips, L. R., Zhang, X. E., & Jaceldo, K. B. An adaptation of Brislin’s translation model for cross-cultural research. Nursing Research, 2001;50(5),300-304. google scholar
• 25 Chaokromthong, K. & Sintao, N. Sample size estimation using Yamane and Cochran and Krejcie and Morgan and green formulas and Cohen statistical power analysis by G Power and comparisions. Apheit International Journal, 2021;10(2),76-86. google scholar
• 26 Rose, L.T. & Fischer, K.W. Garbage in, garbage out: Having useful data is everything. Measurement: Interdisciplinary Research & Perspective, 2011;9(4),222-226. google scholar
• 27 Boccia, S., et al., A critical appraisal of epidemiological studies comes from basic knowledge: a reader’s guide to assess potential for biases. World Journal of Emergency Surgery, 2007;2, 1-8. google scholar
• 28 Brenner, P.S., Investigating the biasing effect of identity in self-reports of socially desirable behavior. Sociological Focus, 2011;44(1),55-75. google scholar
• 29 Van de Mortel, T.F., Faking it: social desirability response bias in self-report research. Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing, The, 2008;25(4),40-48. google scholar
• 30 Rossiter, J.C., A comparison of social desirability bias among four widely used methods of data collection as measured by the impression management subscale of the balance inventory of desirable responding. 2009, Kent State University. google scholar