Gender and power: Nurses and doctors in Canada.

Barbara Zelek,Susan P Phillips

doi:10.1186/1475-9276-2-1

Abstract

BackgroundThe nurse-doctor relationship is historically one of female nurse deference to male physician authority. We investigated the effects of physicians' sex on female nurses' behaviour.MethodsNurses at an urban, university based hospital completed one of two forms of a vignette-based survey in January, 2000. Each survey included four clinical scenarios. In form 1 of the questionnaire the physicians described were female, male, female, and male. In form 2, vignettes were identical but the physician sex was changed to male, female, male, and female. Differences in responses to questions based on the sex of the physician in each vignette were studiedResults199 self-selected nurses completed the survey. The responses of 177 female respondents and 11 respondents who did not specifiy their sex, and were assumed to be female based on the overall sex ratio of respondents, were analysed. Persistent sex-role stereotypes influenced the relationship between female nurses and physicians. Nurses were more willing to serve and defer to male physicians. They approached female physicians on a more egalitarian basis, were more comfortable communicating with them, yet more hostile toward them.ConclusionWhen nurses and doctors are female, traditional power imbalances in their relationship diminish, suggesting that these imbalances are based as much on gender as on professional hierarchy. The effects of this change on the authority of the medical profession, the role of nurses, and on patient care merit further exploration.

Highlights

The nurse-doctor relationship is historically one of female nurse deference to male physician authority
The victimization of female doctors could only occur if the offending male patients saw their physicians as vulnerable women rather than powerful professionals, that is, if gender rather than professional role was the primary determinant of power in the relationship
If female physicians are "women first" in the eyes of some male patients, do their overwhelmingly female nurse colleagues view them through a gender lens? How will the increasing percentage of women in medicine change professional relationships between doctors and nurses? This study examines whether the traditional authority of

Summary

Introduction

The nurse-doctor relationship is historically one of female nurse deference to male physician authority. We investigated the effects of physicians' sex on female nurses' behaviour. The power of physicians appears to arise from knowledge and social class. Concurrent with the increasing number of women entering medicine, there has been a recent decrease in that power.[1] For example, a significant proportion of female family physicians reports being sexually harassed by male patients.[2] Sexual harassment is an abusive behaviour perpetrated by those with power on the more vulnerable. The victimization of female doctors could only occur if the offending male patients saw their physicians as vulnerable women rather than powerful professionals, that is, if gender rather than professional role was the primary determinant of power in the relationship

Results

Discussion

Conclusion