Situation: A nurse is the charge nurse of a 20-bed pediatric ward staffed by registered nurses, nursing attendants, and nursing students on clinical duty. Two staff nurses argue about how to schedule feedings for the infants on the ward. The charge nurse tells them how much they agree on the infants' safety, praises their teamwork, and moves the meeting on without settling the schedule. Which conflict strategy did she use?

Smoothing is a form of accommodation in which the manager emphasizes areas of agreement and plays down differences. It calms feelings but leaves the underlying issue unresolved, as when the feeding schedule remained unsettled. Avoiding withdraws from the issue, compromising splits the difference, and collaborating reaches a solution that meets both sides' interests.

Conflict strategy identification

The charge nurse used smoothing, which is a form of accommodation. In smoothing, the leader emphasizes shared goals and areas of agreement while minimizing or ignoring the actual disagreement. In this situation, the charge nurse pointed out that both staff nurses agree on infant safety and praised their teamwork, but she did not address the feeding schedule conflict itself. The schedule remained unsettled, which is the defining feature of smoothing: the emotional tension is reduced, but the underlying problem is left unresolved.

This differs from the other options in important ways. Avoiding means withdrawing from the conflict entirely, such as postponing discussion or not acknowledging that a disagreement exists. The charge nurse did acknowledge the disagreement and spoke to the nurses, so she did not avoid it. Compromising involves each side giving up something to reach a middle-ground solution, such as splitting feeding times between two proposed schedules. Collaborating is the most time-intensive approach, where both parties work together to find a solution that fully satisfies the interests of both sides. None of these occurred because no schedule decision was made.

Strategy	Core action	Is the issue resolved?	Example in this scenario
Smoothing	Emphasize agreement, downplay differences	No	Praises teamwork, notes shared concern for infant safety, moves on
Avoiding	Withdraw or postpone	No	Changes the subject or ends the meeting without addressing the conflict
Compromising	Each side gives up something	Partially	Alternates between the two proposed feeding schedules
Collaborating	Joint problem-solving for mutual benefit	Yes	Nurses jointly design a new schedule that meets both of their concerns

Key point! Smoothing is often confused with avoiding because both leave the problem unresolved. The difference is that smoothing actively acknowledges the conflict and redirects attention to common ground, while avoiding sidesteps the conflict altogether.

Watch out! In nursing management questions, look for cues such as "emphasized what they agreed on," "praised their cooperation," or "focused on shared values." These phrases point to smoothing, especially when the scenario ends without a concrete decision.

In clinical practice, smoothing can be useful as a short-term strategy when emotions are high or when preserving team harmony is the immediate priority. However, because the underlying feeding schedule issue was not settled, the conflict is likely to resurface. A charge nurse who repeatedly uses smoothing may create an environment where problems accumulate and staff feel unheard. For a pediatric ward, where clear and consistent feeding schedules affect patient safety and workflow, unresolved scheduling conflicts can lead to confusion and inconsistent care delivery.