IDENTIFYING FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STYLES OF LEBANESE NURSING STUDENTS’ WITH THEIR CLINICAL EDUCATORS

Conflicts in nursing career between students’ and clinical educators result certainly in negative outcomes for the students’ as stress and low assertiveness level, but can be successfully managed. The conflict management styles of the students’ should be well known in detail in order to attain positive outcomes. The present study aims to identify factors that influence conflict management styles of Lebanese nursing students’ with their clinical educators. This study was conducted at different universities and institutions, using a descriptive correlational design. A random sample of 360 nursing students’ was used. Data was collected using one tool consisting of two parts: Demographic data and The Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory-II (ROCI-II). Study results illustrate that 78.9%, and 76.6% of nursing students’ respectively used integrating and compromising styles, 76.1% used dominating and avoiding styles and 67.7% used the obligating style of conflict management with their clinical educators. Furthermore, 41.1 % of nursing students’ had conflict experiences from clinical areas. On the other hand, 26.9 % and 70.6% had sometimes and rarely experienced conflicts with their clinical educators respectively. Other variables influence their perception of conflict management styles such as age, class year, academic qualification level, family income, previous conflict with preceptors, frequency of experiencing conflict, feeling successful in conflict management and conflict experiences environment. Consequently, it is recommended that clinical educators should attend workshops about stress management and coping strategies for nursing students’, in order to maintain a healthy learning environment and motivate students’ to express their opinions and enhance their autonomy