Role Conflict and the Nurse, Part I
As health care organizations have become more integrated and complex, role expectations among staff have become more diversified. To reduce job dissatisfaction among nurses, managers and administrators need to develop an appreciation for the scope and types of role conflicts that nurses experience as well as the characteristics of nurses who are at increased risk.
Role conflict among staff nurses can originate from: 1) challenges to nurses' value systems in which moral and ethical beliefs are compromised, 2) patient care workloads that exceed nurses' capabilities, 3) multiplex role systems in which the nurse must manage two or more competing roles, for example, the nurse concerned with the patient's best interests but also as an employee who must follow hospital policy, and 4) interdependent relationships in which the nurse must take into consideration multiple perceptions and expectations of others, managers, physicians, case managers, patients, families, and fellow staff members.
Characteristics of nurses at increased risk for role conflict ten to be those who are younger in age, have fewer years in their present staff position, and work in more acute patient care areas. Registered nurses and even nursing assistants suffer role conflict due to differing staff perspectives and patient expectations. It is also clear that poor team or work group relationships contribute to role conflict.
Nurses are at risk for and may experience a variety of types of role conflict during the course of their professional work. While it is unrealistic to anticipate that role conflict can be completely eliminated, leadership behaviors and organizational work processes implemented by managers and administrators can help to reduce this experience.