A Systematic Review of Respect Between Acute Care Nurses and Physicians

Abstract

Interprofessional collaboration between physicians and nurses has become an increasingly important part of patient care and yet remains a well-known and pervasive challenge. One possible explanation for ineffective nurse-physician collaborations is that respect may be lacking. The purpose of this review is to enhance our understanding of respect by highlighting the value of a particular, profession-based respect as distinct from a general, humanistic respect. To do so, we performed a systematic, PRISMA-guided literature review across five databases to synthesize the evidence about the role of respect between nurses and physicians in acute care. An analysis of 51 studies provides evidence to support the existence of professional respect, which is a belief in one’s value based in their relevant competence. We highlight what has been shown to foster and follow from this professional respect. We suggest that while general respect for colleagues as humans is essential to facilitate civil interactions, it may not be sufficient. Instead, our findings suggest that effective collaborations demand that leaders foster a kind of professional respect that implies our coworkers are worth listening to.