Nurs Admin Q Vol. 38, No. 3, pp. 248–260 Copyright c  2014 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Communication That Builds Teams Assessing a Nursing Conﬂict Intervention Anne Maydan Nicotera, PhD; Margaret M. Mahon, PhD, RN, FAAN; Kevin B. Wright, PhD Quality communication is essential for building strong nursing teams. Structurational divergence (SD) theory explains how institutional factors can result in poor communication and conﬂict cycles; the theory has been developed in nursing context, although it is applicable to all organi- zational settings. We describe the design, implementation, and evaluation of an intervention to reduce SD and improve nurses’ work life and team-member relationships. An intensive 9-hour course provided training in conﬂict/SD analysis and dialogic conﬂict/SD management to 36 work- ing nurses from a variety of settings. Quantitative pre- and posttests were administered, with a comparison sample. The course reduced measures of negative conﬂict attitudes and behaviors: direct personalization, persecution feelings, negative relational effects, ambiguity intolerance, and triangulation (gossiping and complaining to uninvolved third parties). The course also increased important attitudes necessary for productive dialogue and conﬂict management: perceptions of positive relational effects, conﬂict liking, and positive beliefs about arguing. As compared with nonparticipants, participant posttests showed lower conﬂict persecution; higher recognition of positive relational effects; lower perceptions of negative relational effects; higher conﬂict liking; lower ambiguity intolerance; and lower tendency to triangulate. Qualitatively, participants per- ceived better understanding of, and felt more empowered to manage, workplace conﬂicts and to sustain healthier workplace relationships. This intervention can help nurses develop tools to im- prove system-level function and build productive team relationships. Key words: communication skills training, intractable conﬂict, nursing communication, teamwork D ESPITE AGREEMENT on the importance of communication for patient safety and quality care, little research examines the ad- Author Afﬁliations: Department of Communication, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia (Drs Nicotera, Mahon, and Wright), and Shady Grove Adventist Hospital, Gaithersburg, Maryland (Dr Mahon). This project was supported by a grant from the George Mason University Center for the Advancement of Well-Being. The authors declare no conﬂict of interest. Correspondence: Anne Maydan Nicotera, PhD, De- partment of Communication, George Mason Univer- sity, 4400 University Dr, MSN 3D6, Fairfax, VA 22030 (anicoter@gmu.edu). DOI: 10.1097/NAQ.0000000000000033 equacy of existing interventions to improve communication, including the patient care handoff. 1 Excellent communication among nurses is at the core of a team-based ap- proach that enhances patient care 2 and fur- thers the goals of a unit or a large health care organization (HCO). 3,4 Poor communi- cation damages team relationships and organi- zational processes, impeding the accomplish- ment of goals, compromising patient care. 5 Poor communication can create poor quality of work life 6-8 and dampen job satisfaction, which contributes to turnover, worsening the shortage of nurses and increasing costs. 9 This study reports the encouraging assessment of a training course targeting a common, but Copyright © 2014 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited. 248