This study examined moral reasoning used by nurses to resolve conflict and choice in the workplace. This study also focused on how nurses saw themselves as leaders and caregivers. Ten nurse leaders were purposively selected from a large urban acute care magnet hospital. In open-ended, semi-structured interviews, each participant discussed an actual workplace conflict that they experienced, the course of action taken, and evaluation. Nurse leaders also described themselves as leaders and as caregivers. Demographic data was gathered on age, sex, educational background and career positions.
Two research questions were addressed in this study: How do nurse leaders respond to conflict and choice in the workplace? Does level of leadership influence response to conflict and choice? Interview data were analyzed using Carol Gilligan's protocol described in the Reading Guide (Brown et al. 1988).
The results indicate that nurse leaders used justice and care voices to respond to conflict and choice in the workplace. Seven out of ten used both a justice and care voice. Three of the leaders responded with only one voice: two with only a care voice and one with only a justice voice. In this study, leadership level did not influence choice of moral voice in workplace conflict. Managers and executives both used justice and care in describing their dilemmas. Nurse leaders described three kinds of workplace conflict: organizational, interpersonal and intrapersonal.
Four themes emerged as central to how nurse leaders view themselves: the importance of relationships in the leader role; power as a piece of the leader role; the leader as a team member; standards as guides to decision-making. Nurse leaders underscored the importance of the worksetting and its influence on nursing's ethic of care. Congruence of institutional philosophy, climate, and larger administrative presence with nursing's professional care values are the contextual influences cited by the nurse leaders.
