| Course | HCR 420 Professional Role Development Health Care Coordination |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 2 |
| Paper type | Applied reflective paper |
| Length | About 505 words, 4 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Arizona State University |
| Program | BS in Health Care Coordination |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HCR 420 Module 2
From Latent Tension to Aftermath: Applying Pondy's Stages to a Conflict Over Discharge Calls
Student Name
BS in Health Care Coordination, Arizona State University
HCR 420: Professional Role Development: Health Care Coordination
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
From Latent Tension to Aftermath: Applying Pondy's Stages to a Conflict Over Discharge Calls
Pondy's Model of Organizational Conflict
Pondy (1967) described conflict as a sequence of episodes, each with five stages. Latent conflict is the presence of conditions for conflict, such as competition for scarce resources, drives for autonomy or differing goals. Perceived conflict occurs when people become aware of the conditions. Felt conflict is the stage at which conflict becomes personal, with tension, anxiety or hostility. Manifest conflict is the behavior people use, from open argument to quiet resistance. The aftermath is the result of how the episode was handled, which leaves conditions that can either ease or intensify the next episode.
The Experience
In my internship at a primary care clinic, I was asked to help start follow-up calls to patients within two days of hospital discharge. The clinic's lead nurse, who had worked there for 12 years, believed the calls were nursing's responsibility and that a coordinator intern should not do them.
Applying the Stages
| Stage | What happened | My response |
|---|---|---|
| Latent | Role overlap between coordination and nursing; no written policy on who calls patients; nurses short-staffed | Unaware at first |
| Perceived | I learned the nurse had redone two of my calls | Assumed she doubted my competence |
| Felt | I felt embarrassed and defensive; she felt her role was being taken | Avoided her and stopped asking questions |
| Manifest | At a staff meeting she said interns should not be calling patients; I responded sharply | Argued my case in front of others |
| Aftermath | Our manager wrote a protocol: nurses call high-risk patients, the coordinator calls others and flags concerns to nurses | Relief, but our relationship stayed cool for weeks |
Analyzing My Responses
Looking back, the latent conditions, unclear roles and staff shortages, caused the conflict more than either of us did. I treated the perceived stage as a personal judgment rather than a signal about roles. In the felt stage, avoidance let the tension grow. In the manifest stage, responding publicly made her defensive and made the issue about status. My conflict style under stress leans toward avoiding and then competing, two responses that rarely solve structural problems. Community health worker training materials encourage naming the issue early, listening for the other person's concerns and focusing on shared interests (Berthold, 2016), all things I skipped.
What I Would Do Differently
At the perceived stage, I would ask to meet privately, say what I noticed and ask how she saw the calls. I would point to our shared interest, patients not ending up back in the hospital, and propose that we draft a role agreement together for our manager. Unclear roles are a known source of gaps in coordinated care (Bodenheimer, 2008), so fixing the structure early would have prevented much of the friction.
Conclusion
Pondy's model helped me see that conflict develops through stages and that each stage offers a chance to intervene. Recognizing latent conditions and addressing perceived conflict early, privately and with shared goals, is the conflict management skill I most need to build.
References
Berthold, T. (Ed.). (2016). Foundations for community health workers (2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass.
Bodenheimer, T. (2008). Coordinating care: A perilous journey through the health care system. New England Journal of Medicine, 358(10), 1064-1071. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMhpr0706165
Pondy, L. R. (1967). Organizational conflict: Concepts and models. Administrative Science Quarterly, 12(2), 296-320. https://doi.org/10.2307/2391553
Reading the HCR 420 Module 2 assignment instructions
The Stages of Conflict paper is the second of HCR 420's two papers, worth 40 points together. The syllabus says students examine a recognized conflict model, identify and explain the stages of conflict and apply them to a real-life experience, analyzing their own conflict responses and behaviors to build practical conflict management skills. The week's readings include Louis Pondy's five-stage model of organizational conflict, a chapter from Foundations for Community Health Workers and videos on conflict cycles and escalation, and the week also includes a conflict resolution style assessment. Choose an experience you can describe honestly without identifying others, and use APA 7th edition throughout.
Inside the HCR 420 Module 2 example
The sample explains Pondy's five stages in a paragraph, then describes a realistic workplace conflict in a few sentences. A table applies each stage to the experience and records the writer's response at that stage, and an analysis section names the writer's conflict style under stress and the skills she skipped, drawing on the course's community health worker text. A section on what she would do differently proposes concrete steps at the perceived stage, and the conclusion states the main skill to build. Three sources support the paper, including Pondy's original article. The table keeps the five stages and the writer's responses side by side, so the self-analysis is easy to follow and grade.
Reading the HCR 420 Module 2 grading rubric
Canvas scores this second paper as the other half of the 40 points HCR 420 gives its two papers. Conflict papers do well when every stage of the chosen model is explained accurately and then mapped onto one real event, when the writer examines his or her own thoughts and actions honestly, when strategies for the future are practical and when the week's readings are visibly used, with APA throughout. Deductions follow stages that are defined but never applied, accounts that blame the other person and skip self-analysis, generic advice such as "communicate openly" and details that would let a reader identify a coworker. Readers also look for structural causes, such as unclear roles or competing workloads, alongside personal ones. The strongest endings tie one concrete change in the writer's behavior to the stage where it would have helped most.
HCR 420 Module 2 help from the desk
Choose a conflict that has ended, so you can describe the aftermath. Write the facts first, then map them to each stage of the model. Be specific about your own feelings and behavior; the assignment rewards honest self-analysis. Use initials or roles instead of names. Link your future strategies to the stage where they would help. If your conflict was personal rather than at work, check with your instructor that it fits the assignment. The desk can help you map an experience to the stages if you are unsure where one ends and the next begins. Proofread for names.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Arizona State University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
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HCR 420 Module 2 questions, answered
Where can I find a free HCR 420 Module 2 sample paper?
The full HCR 420 Module 2 sample is above: a stages of conflict paper applying Pondy's model to a workplace conflict over discharge calls.
What are Pondy's five stages of conflict?
Latent, perceived, felt, manifest and aftermath.
What is latent conflict?
The presence of conditions that can lead to conflict, such as unclear roles, scarce resources or different goals, before anyone is aware of it.
Does the HCR 420 conflict paper use a real experience?
Yes. Students apply the stages of a recognized conflict model to a real-life experience and analyze their own responses.
How can conflict be managed early?
Address it at the perceived stage, privately, by naming the issue, listening and focusing on shared interests.