Registered nurses’ attitude towards physician-nurse collaboration in a Malaysian private hospital

ABSTRACT

Background: Positive physician-nurse collaborative relationship is the key determinant for patients’ outcomes. Objective: The purpose of the study was to investigate registered nurses’ attitude towards physician-nurse collaboration and its association with demographic characteristics. Methodology: The study was descriptive and crosssectional. The data of the study was collected using the “Jefferson Scale of Attitudes toward PhysicianNurse Collaboration”. The sample size of the study was 127 registered nurses recruited using convenience sampling. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics t-test were used for data analysis. Results: The results showed that nurses’ attitude towards physician-nurse collaboration was positive (M=3.25, SD±0.29). The attitude of the participants was highly positive towards “shares education and collaboration” (M=3.42, SD±0.36), “nurse’s autonomy” (M=3.42, SD±0.44), and “caring vs. curing” subscales (M=3.41, SD±0.41). However, the participants rated lowest for “physician’s authority” subscale (M=2.12, SD±0.83) and particularly on the item “doctors should be dominant authority in all health care matters” (M=2.11, SD±0.99). Furthermore, t-test analysis revealed no significant association between nurses’ attitude towards physiciannurse collaboration and demographic characteristics such as age, gender, and educational level (p > 0.05). Conclusion: The results of the study provided some crucial evidences on nurses’ attitude towards physiciannurse collaboration. The evidences are useful for the relevant stakeholders to initiate relevant strategies to improve and strengthen the relationship gap between physicians and nurses.