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The last century witnessed several important trends in the United States that have advanced the study and application of conflict resolution strategies. In the 1920s and 30s, collective bargaining was implemented as a way to try to control the violent labor conflicts that were common occurrences. This led to the use of arbitration to settle disputes, and the passage of the National Labor Relations Act in 1935, which protected the right of workers to bargain collectively to improve working conditions. After and between World Wars I and II, the scientific study of methods to avoid war was begun in earnest. The Journal of Conflict Resolution was first published in 1957. The 1960s saw the dawning of the civil rights era and other popular empowerment movements, such as women's rights, environmental protection and peace causes. Because these movements increased levels of public conflict, they also spurred interest in developing new approaches to conflict resolution.
From1960 to the 1990s, the number of civil lawsuits between private citizens skyrocketed. Approximately 18 million new lawsuits are filed in our nation's courts annually. The median time between the date a lawsuit is filed and the beginning of a civil trial is 2.5 years. Today it is estimated that direct litigation costs, plus insurance premiums, amount to between $50-80 billion a year. (Crowley, 1994).(1) In 1990 and 1996, the federal Dispute Resolution Acts authorized and encouraged federal agencies to use ADR processes as much as possible to informally resolve agency disputes.
Litigation in health care is also on the rise. Since 1960, malpractice premiums have increased at least 100 times. (2) Once, "protected" by the hospital's deep pockets, nurses now are increasingly named as defendants. William McDonough, senior vice president for Marsh, Inc., the world's largest insurance brokerage firm, estimates that lawsuits naming nurses as defendants have increased at least ten percent since 1995.(3)
Although the financial and personal costs of being involved in litigation are dramatic and frightening, ADR techniques can provide options that give much more control of the outcome. ADR techniques themselves are also appropriate for those circumstances that do not approach the likelihood of litigation; those day-to-day irritating conflicts and tensions in the workplace and beyond. ADR has applicability in every segment of a nurse's life.
Endnotes
1 Crowley, T. (1994). Settle It Out of Court. New York: John Wiley
& Sons.
2 Crowley, T. (1994). Settle It Out of Court. New York: John Wiley
& Sons.
3 Stein, T. (2000) "On the Defensive: More Patients are Naming Nurses in Malpractice Suits." (online Available: www.nurseweek.com/features/00-05/malpract.html
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