Questionnaire survey of working relationships between nurses and doctors in University Teaching Hospitals in Southern Nigeria

Roseline I Ogbimi,Clement A Adebamowo

doi:10.1186/1472-6955-5-2

Abstract

BackgroundSmooth working relationships between nurses and doctors are necessary for efficient health care delivery. However, previous studies have shown that this is often absent with negative impact on the quality of health care delivery. In 2002, we studied factors that affect nurse-doctor working relationships in University Teaching Hospitals (UTH) in Southern Nigeria in order to characterize it and identify managerial and training needs that might be used to improve it.MethodQuestionnaire survey of doctors and nurses working in four UTH in Southern Nigeria was done in 2002. The setting and subjects were selected by random sampling procedures. Information on factors in domains of work, union activities, personnel and hospital management were studied using closed and open-ended questionnaires.ResultsNurse-doctor working relationships were statistically significantly affected by poor after-work social interaction, staff shortages, activist unionism, disregard for one's profession, and hospital management and government policies. In general, nurses had better opinion of doctors' work than doctors had about nurses' work.ConclusionWorking relationships between doctors and nurses need to be improved through improved training and better working conditions, creation of better working environment, use of alternative methods of conflict resolution and balanced hospital management and government policies. This will improve the retention of staff, job satisfaction and efficiency of health care delivery in Nigeria.

Highlights

Smooth working relationships between nurses and doctors are necessary for efficient health care delivery
Nurses and other professionals in the health care industry are challenging the subordination of their occupational status to that of physicians[10]; some authors have warned that higher status workers could just as likely be victimized as those in lower status[11]
While some authors think doctors are the major sources of these conflicts[18], others have blamed medical training programs that set up a hierarchical model with nurses in a relatively subservient role[16]

Summary

Introduction

Smooth working relationships between nurses and doctors are necessary for efficient health care delivery. Smooth working relationships between doctors and nurses are prerequisite for efficient delivery of health care. This has often been overlooked to the detriment of patients' care and increased cost to the health care system, in developing countries. Older nurses may expect traditional cultural respect due to an older person from often relatively younger doctors[7,9] With these developments, nurses and other professionals in the health care industry are challenging the subordination of their occupational status to that of physicians[10]; some authors have warned that higher status workers could just as likely be victimized as those in lower status[11]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion