Professional Ties and Industrial Disputes: Knowledge, Practices and Management among Doctors in a Nigerian Tertiary Hospital

Abstract

Disputes arise from inherent opposing interests in human co-existence in any system. The only critical element is how to manage dispute to a reasonable extent that none of the parties feels shortchanged or undermined. In Nigeria, specifically, industrial dispute has taken an unprecedented proportion since independence and a geometric level in the 1990s and currently. The aim of this project is to study the knowledge, practices and management of industrial dispute among doctors in the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Nnewi. The index study will help reveal causes of disputes as well as proffer evidence-based solutions to averting the negative aftermath. Using NAUTH as a case, questionnaires were self- administered to Doctors. The paper adopted the tabular method in presenting data, while Chi-square was used in testing the hypothesis. The results showed the factors that are apparently responsible for strikes in the Nigerian university teaching hospital system, key among them are the Management and Government’s inability to keep to obligations, promises made during engagements and negotiations, as well as poor infrastructure, poor work environment, and poor remuneration. Hence, this paper recommends that a well-designed industrial dispute management structure must be put in place in Teaching Hospitals among others.