Assessment of Nurses and Physicians Perception towards their Cooperation in Pediatric Hospitals: A Comparative Study

Abstract

Background: Collaboration is one of the best techniques for healthcare systems when seeking to improve outcomes. Aims: The purpose of this study is to investigate the perception of nurses and physicians towards their cooperation in pediatrics Hospitals/ Babylon, Iraq.

Methods: A comparative study is conducted in Baghdad Province at the pediatric hospitals. A non probability convenience of 390 nurses and 107 physician participated in the study. The instruments underlying the study phenomenon deals with nurses and physicians socio-demographic characteristics and constructed questionnaire related to the nurses-physicians relationship. The reliability of the questionnaire was achieved through a pilot study and then presented to experts to prove its credibility. The data were collected by using self-report techniques method and analyzed through the application of descriptive and inferential statistical analysis.

Results: Findings show that the mean age for nurses is 27, the age 20-29 years old were recorded the highest percentage among nurses (83.3%). While, the mean age among physician is 34, the age 30-39 years old were recorded the highest percentage among physician (37.4%), the female were predominated among nurses (80%), compared with male among physician (60.7%), both nurses and physician had been 5 to 10 years of experience (70% and 45.8%) respectively, most of nurses work at words (80%) and most of physician work at emergency department (53.3%). Findings indicate that the nurse-physician perception related to relationship was demonstrate at M ± SD= 36.69 ± 5.135 among nurses and M ± SD = 29.05 ± 2.935 among physician. There were highly significant difference in perception towards relationship with regard to nurses (M ± SD= 2.03±0.285) and physicians (M ± SD=1.61±0.163) at p-value <0.01.

Conclusion: Nurses and physicians held different perceptions of nurse-physician collaboration. Relationship, effect of work stress on their relationship, effect of job performance on their relationship, influence of administrative policies and norms on their relationship, and role effect on their relationship were reoccurring themes in reports of perceptions about nurse-physician collaboration.

Recommendations : Giving rewards for well established inter-professional collaboration between nurses and physicians and emphasizing that the role of nurses is no less important than that of doctors and other workers in health institutions.