The Significance of Role Conflict and Ambiguity in Nursing It doesn’t take a news report, or an online search to realize that the United States is facing a nursing shortage. Patients recognize it when their call light goes unanswered. Nurse’s see it because there’s not enough of them to answer all the lights that are on. The administrator knows because the next morning there is an AOR that states a patient fell trying to reach the bathroom, and no one answered his light. By the year 2022, the number of open nursing jobs will 1.05 million. One of the drivers of this shortage is nursing turnover. Forty-three percent of graduating nurses leave their first job in three years and even experienced nurses are turning over at an annual rate of fourteen percent ("American Association of the Colleges of Nursing," 2015). Administrators in health organizations are trying to turn these numbers around as it is a priority for the safety of staff and patients. Research has shown that role conflict and ambiguity are two of the leading causes of stress and poor work performance (Tunc & Kutanis, 2009). Role conflict exists when there is a conflict between two or more professional roles. Role ambiguity occurs because there is a lack of clarity surrounding the responsibilities of nursing duties (Moustaka & Constantinidis, 2010). For example, a new nurse may be given a larger that average caseload with some high acuity patients because the unit is short staffed. Role conflict happens because he is a new nurse thrown into the role of someone more experienced, and ambiguity because it is unclear how much responsibility he should accept. The result of this is work-related stress, decreased job satisfaction, occupational accidents and job errors (Moustaka & Constantinidis, 2010). It is no surprise that nurses are experiencing burnout and taking new jobs while some are leaving the profession altogether. Literature : Negative Impact on Healthcare Organizations Avoiding role conflict and ambiguity is vital for success within a healthcare organization. Both role conflict and ambiguity may negatively affect organization climate and the quality of care performed within healthcare organizations. Role clarity is imperative for maintaining quality healthcare outcomes (Roch, Dubois, & Clarke, 2014).Without role clarity confusion of job responsibilities may occur, which may lead to poor job performance or motivation. This in turn leads to negative organizational climate and healthcare related outcomes. According to the article, The Interactive effect of role conflict and ambiguity on job performance, research performed in a large organization in Israel revealed that both role conflict and role ambiguity lead to poor job performance (Fried, Ben-David, Tiegs, Avital, & Yeverechyahu, 1998). If role conflict and ambiguity persist burnout may occur in nurses. The lack of job role descriptions and expectations can develop burnout ( Tunc & Kutanis, 2009). High levels of ...

1. The Significance of Role Conflict and Ambiguity in Nursing
It doesn’t take a news report, or an online search to realize that
the United States is facing a nursing shortage. Patients
recognize it when their call light goes unanswered. Nurse’s see
it because there’s not enough of them to answer all the lights
that are on. The administrator knows because the next morning
there is an AOR that states a patient fell trying to reach the
bathroom, and no one answered his light. By the year 2022, the
number of open nursing jobs will 1.05 million. One of the
drivers of this shortage is nursing turnover. Forty-three percent
of graduating nurses leave their first job in three years and even
experienced nurses are turning over at an annual rate of
fourteen percent ("American Association of the Colleges of
Nursing," 2015). Administrators in health organizations are
trying to turn these numbers around as it is a priority for the
safety of staff and patients. Research has shown that role
conflict and ambiguity are two of the leading causes of stress
and poor work performance (Tunc & Kutanis, 2009). Role
conflict exists when there is a conflict between two or more
professional roles. Role ambiguity occurs because there is a
lack of clarity surrounding the responsibilities of nursing duties
(Moustaka & Constantinidis, 2010). For example, a new nurse
may be given a larger that average caseload with some high
acuity patients because the unit is short staffed. Role conflict
happens because he is a new nurse thrown into the role of
someone more experienced, and ambiguity because it is unclear
how much responsibility he should accept. The result of this is
work-related stress, decreased job satisfaction, occupational
accidents and job errors (Moustaka & Constantinidis, 2010). It
is no surprise that nurses are experiencing burnout and taking
new jobs while some are leaving the profession altogether.
Literature : Negative Impact on Healthcare Organizations
Avoiding role conflict and ambiguity is vital for success within

2. a healthcare organization. Both role conflict and ambiguity may
negatively affect organization climate and the quality of care
performed within healthcare organizations. Role clarity is
imperative for maintaining quality healthcare outcomes (Roch,
Dubois, & Clarke, 2014).Without role clarity confusion of job
responsibilities may occur, which may lead to poor job
performance or motivation. This in turn leads to negative
organizational climate and healthcare related outcomes.
According to the article, The Interactive effect of role conflict
and ambiguity on job performance, research performed in a
large organization in Israel revealed that both role conflict and
role ambiguity lead to poor job performance (Fried, Ben-David,
Tiegs, Avital, & Yeverechyahu, 1998). If role conflict and
ambiguity persist burnout may occur in nurses. The lack of job
role descriptions and expectations can develop burnout ( Tunc
& Kutanis, 2009). High levels of nurse burnouts can result in
high job turnover rates, leading to poor job performances and
patient care outcomes. In a questionnaire study performed in a
university hospital in Turkey, nurses experienced a high level of
role conflict, ambiguity and burnout. This study revealed that
role conflict and ambiguity may cause burnout, which diminish
work performance, and put patients’ health at risk (Tunc &
Kutanis, 2009). If healthcare organizations are expected to
thrive in the nursing performance and patient care outcomes,
it’s imperative that nurses are well informed of job
responsibilities and requirements to avoid any negative effects
on healthcare organizations.
Application to Nursing
Role conflict and ambiguity not only affects individual
nurses, but it influences healthcare systems as a whole.
O’Brien-Pallas et al. (2010) determined that role conflict and
ambiguity is one of the causes for high staff turn-over rates and
medication errors. High turn-over rates and medication errors
incur a negative impact on the healthcare system in regards to
revenue lost; according to National Survey Inc. (2015),
hospitals lost 4.9 to 7.6 million dollars for one staff nurse.

3. Negative patient outcomes and low patient satisfaction can be
correlated to nurse turnover and nursing shortages caused by
role conflict and ambiguity. Aiken, et al. (2002) studied staff
burnout and turnover and how it affected patient outcomes; it
was found that 23.2% of patients studied developed a major
complication that was not related to their admission diagnosis,
2% of patients passed away within 30 days of discharge from
the hospital. Negative patient outcomes and large revenue loss
are strong drivers for healthcare systems to improve the
relationships of their nursing staff and leadership.
In conclusion, role challenges have been reported for
individuals who may be accustomed to working independently.
Specifically, role ambiguity and role conflict have been
associated with burnout; affecting both the general and special
operators. As affirmed by the existing literature, role ambiguity
is characterized by the employees’ failure to understand some of
the roles that they are expected to perform, as well as the
manner in which certain situations could be approached. On the
other hand, role conflict results when an employee
misunderstands and faces a dilemma regarding the perceptions
and expectations of a role to be performed. Indeed, role conflict
is attributed to the existence of two unrelated circumstances,
with the affected persons playing more than one role that may
overlap and lead to confusion. For instance, a mother may also
be a manager. In such a case, she may wish to work late on
some occasions but, at the same time, needs to attend to a young
child. The dilemma is whether to play the role of a manager or a
mother. The implication is that a majority of the current
organizations ought to address the issues towards better
outcome provision. On one hand, role conflict could be
addressed by blowing off steam, sharing all the available
information and analyzing various aspects of the conflict. On
the other hand, role ambiguity could be addressed by clarifying
the expectations, understanding the rewards and defining
satisfactory performance, establishing priorities among the
firms’ expectations, altering the values of outcomes, and

4. redefining the roles to align them with the organization’s goals
and objectives. Other approaches include participative decision-
making, embracing cultural diversity and holding seminars and
conferences from which platforms can be created to provide
feedback. In summary, the solution to role conflict and
ambiguity lies in collaborative efforts that entail top-down and
bottom-up forms of communication in current organizations.
[List Title]
If you’re ready to write, just select a line of text and start
typing to
replace it with your own.
·
Need a heading? On the Home tab, in the Styles gallery, click
the
heading
style you want.
·
This style is called List Bullet.
[List Title]
If you’re ready to write, just select a line of text and start
typing to
replace it with your own.
click
the
heading style you want.

5. History 110 / Spring 2016
Prof. Yeh
Research Paper Assignment
The paper assignment for this course involves researching a
particular historical event or episode in the twentieth century
(1900-1990s) through contemporary newspapers. First, you are
to choose a topic (see list below) and find and use at least 12-15
articles or editorials on your topic in the Los Angeles Times or
New York Times newspapers from the period you are
researching. From these you are to analyze and discuss the
attitudes, beliefs, or response of Americans during that period
to the event you are examining. Depending on your topic, you
should try to explore it for a week or so after the initial episode,
though some may require research up to a month after. Be sure
to use ideas or quotes from the articles to support your claims.
Rather than simply describing the response or attitudes you
find, try to construct some form of an argument which will help
give your paper some coherent direction. A word of caution:
The paper is not about how the press or media reported the
event, but rather you should use the media as your window into
how people, officials, etc reacted or responded to the particular
event you have chosen.
The paper is to be at least 5 pages in length, double spaced, and
with normal font and margins and is due April 12th. You will be
graded on content, organization, clarity of thought, and writing
style so you should proofread your work carefully. Consult the
SDSU Department of History website for guides to writing and
proper reference style (Chicago style endnotes only).
[http://history.sdsu.edu/writing_guides.htm] Be aware that you
should use and cite at least 10-12 of your articles in your paper.
You must allot the bulk of your paper to examining and
analyzing the sources, allowing no more than 1 page to
background and introduction.

6. You may use only the NY Times or LA Times ProQuest
Research Historical Newspaper online source for your research.
This means Google or Lexis-Nexis searches are not appropriate
for this assignment. Please see videos in Blackboard
Assignment section for detailed explanation of how to find
proper sources.
FDR’s Election (1932)
LBJ’s Decision not to run again
Reagan's 1980 election
Execution of Sacco/Vanzetti
Brown v. Bd. of Education
Love Canal (Aug-Dec 1978)
Beatles Invasion (Feb. 1964)
.
Cuban Missile Crisis (10/22/62)
Bonus Army (7/28/32)
Shuttle Challenger accident

7. Boston School busing (9/8/74)
Nixon's Resignation
Pattie Hearst Kidnapping
O. North Iran-Contra testimony
End of WWII
1948 Truman election
Charles Manson conviction
Three Mile Island Accident
Fall of Saigon (1975)
1947 Hollywood Hearing Clinton election (1992)
US Iraq Invasion (3/22/03)

8. Hurricane Katrina (8/30/05)
Birmingham Riot (May 1963)
Sputnik Launch (Oct. 1957)
Stock Market Crash (10/29/29)
Start of Desert Storm (1/16/91)
Sinking of Lusitania
Clinton impeachment (12/19/98)
Branch Davidian Siege (4/19/93) Kent State killings
(5/4/70)
Seattle WTO Protests (11/30/99)
JFK’s Election
Apollo 11 landing on moon Rosenbergs
Execution (6/19/53)
Hippies/SF (4/67-8/67)
Michigan Affirmative Action Cases (6/23/03)
Tips on Writing Papers and Grading Guidelines
1. A THESIS: You need to formulate a thesis. A thesis tells the
reader what you are going to prove. It is an answer, not an
agenda. This should be very clear and explicit. For example if
your topic is on working-class women in urban areas during the
turn of the century, a good thesis might be: "despite the
economic difficulties faced by working-class women in urban
areas during the turn of the century, this group of women
experienced social freedoms their middle-class sisters could not
due to the richness of working-class culture." The following
thesis, while acceptable, is not as good as the above: "my paper
will describe the culture of working-class women during the

9. turn of the century urban areas."
2. ORGANIZATION: After you have worked out your thesis,
you can begin organizing your paper. If your thesis is well-
developed, this should not be difficult. The good thesis above,
for example, suggests three major sections, one on the economic
conditions of working-class women, one of the social
restrictions of middle-class women, one on working-women's
culture and its advantages. A historical essay must contain
three essential elements: an introductory paragraph, (which
must contain your thesis), a body, and a conclusion. The above
three sections would probably be several paragraphs each in the
body of the paper.
3. REVISIONS: Most students benefit tremendously from
revising their work. Most good writers need to do through
several drafts before the product is acceptable. I would strongly
encourage you to plan to let the first draft of your paper rest for
a few days and then revise it. When revising, it often helps to
read the paper out loud because serious problems will often be
more apparent to your ears than to your eyes. Here are some
guidelines to help you edit the paper.
a. Compare your conclusion with your opening. If they do not
agree, you have a problem.
b. Check your paper for consistency. Do your ideas follow each
other in a logical progression?
c. Proofread the draft. Check for spelling, punctuation, and
typographical errors.
d. Have someone else proofread the draft.
4. Paper format

10. a. Staple the pages together.
b. Use 12 point font, printed in black.
c. Paginate your paper.
d. Doubled-space.
5. GENERAL TIPS ON WRITING: SOME DOS AND DON'TS.
1. Do not write one-sentence paragraphs, ever. Every paragraph
must contain a topic sentence, lots of supporting evidence (all
cited) and a conclusion and transition to the next point. You
simply cannot accomplish all of this in one sentence.
2. Write clear, concise, simple sentences, and avoid using
complicated words unless you are comfortable with using them.
The best writing uses the clearest, most accurate language, in
the fewest words possible, to express a thought or convey an
idea.
3. When you write about something that occurred in the past,
use past tenses.
4. Make sure your verb tenses agree with the subject of the
sentence.
5. Make sure pronouns are all modified. In other words, make
sure the reader knows who, “they,” “she,” or “it” refers to.
6. Do not use contractions in formal essays.
7. Do not tell the reader what you are going to do, (Next, I will
be focusing on how George Creel used propaganda to mobilize
the American public for the war effort.) just do it.

11. 8. You must use transitional phrases, words, and sentences
between paragraphs to ease the flow of your writing.
9. You must write in complete sentences. That means, you need
to have a subject and a verb in each sentence.
10. Make sure you know the difference between “affect” and
“effect”; between “it's” and “its”; between “there”, “their” and
“they're”.
11. Try to use gender-neutral language in your writing. Do not
use the universal “he” or his.” Use he/she or he and she. Do not
use mankind when humankind or humanity will do just as well.
PAPER GRADING GUIDELINES
An "A" PAPER develops a theme in an organized, controlled
manner; it has a clearly defined thesis and argues this thesis
effectively without extraneous discussion. An "A" paper
should have an original insight into materials presented in class.
It should also effectively analyze primary documents. In terms
of structure, the essay should 1) recognize appropriate
opposition to the theme of the paper, 2) develop each paragraph
as an extension or elaboration of the thesis sentence of the
essay, and 3) clearly mark the development of logic through
appropriate transitions, reiterations of the theme, explicit
justification for the use of data, explanations, evidence, logical
constructs and through the use of proper conclusions. An "A"
paper tackles a problem at a significant level of analysis, i.e.,
deals with problems on as specific and complex a level as
possible, given the nature of materials presented to the class.
A "B" ESSAY develops a theme in an organized manner, has a
well-defined thesis, and supports this thesis with examples,
evidence and logic. The materials presented are factually
correct and consistently support a theme outlined at the

12. beginning of the essay. A "B" essay should have a recognizable
line of argument/explanation, a justification for all subtopics
discussed, a conclusion that answers all or part of the original
essay question.
A "C" ESSAY organizes class materials and primary documents
into a coherent and consistent essay which demonstrates an
understanding of both materials. Organization of the paper is
such that the major theme can be followed and subtopics relate
to this theme.
A "D" ESSAY does none of the above effectively.
A "F" ESSAY is really bad!