According to Finkelman, there are four stages of conflict. The first stage of conflict is the latent conflict. In this stage, conflict is being anticipated. Conflict did not take place yet; however there is a situation that will serve as a precipitator and will cause the conflict to become apparent.

This is the stage when one of the nurses called the nursing supervisor in the facility and told her that she could not come to work due to an unexpected predicament. Second stage of conflict is the perceived conflict. "Perception is very important as it can affect whether or not there really is a conflict, what is known about the conflict, and how it might be resolved" (Finkelman, 2016).

In the perceived conflict stage, individuals who are involved in the situation are already fully aware that there is a conflict. The nurse in the scenario is already mindful of the crisis after being informed by the nursing supervisor that other nurse will not be able to come to work. The third stage is called the felt conflict. In this stage, individuals begin to feel angry, anxious, and stressed. The feelings of frustration have been disseminated when the nurse found out that an additional workload will be assigned to her. Feelings that arose in this stage must be resolved as well in addition to the main conflict. After the stage of felt conflict, manifest conflict comes after. "At this time the conflict can be constructive or destructive" (Finkelman, 2016). Responding positively to the conflict can lead to a problem that can be solved. In the story mentioned above, the destructive phase of this stage is when the conflict has affected the patient care negatively. The problem is unresolved because there is already an undesirable ramification and it could undeniably happen again in the near future.