Nurse-physician collaboration

The literature indicates that collaboration between nurses and physicians has become more sophisticated as these relationships have become collegial in nature and as nurses have become assertive, autonomous, and accountable. On an individual level, physicians and nurses now entering collaborative relationships are successful at minimizing the obstacles of turf and territoriality as well as at managing practice boundaries. However, both need to consciously examine their patterns of communication in order to effect clinical interaction styles that maintain unequal or hierarchical relationships. Studies of interprofessional communication, including style of clinical interaction, conflict resolution, use of humor, and negotiation, contribute support for nurses and physicians in collaborative relationships (Balzer, 1993; Campbell, Mauksch, Neikirk, & Hosokawa, 1990; Feiger & Schmitt, 1979; Lenkman & Gribbins, 1994; Pike, 1991). Research on differences in health outcomes of patients cared for in the traditional and collaborative models of health care delivery, identification of the unique product of collaborative practice models, and further identification of the type of attitudinal climate in which collaborative relationships can be nurtured should be undertaken if the elusive nature of collaboration is to be captured (Siegler, Whitney, & Schmitt, 1994). Providing collaborative, interdisciplinary clinical experiences for students, as well as role modeling of collaborative relationships in nurse-physician faculty practice, can contribute to a greater understanding and acceptance of each professional's role in health care delivery (Campbell, 1993; Forbes & Fitzsimons, 1993; Larson, 1995). Tradition and professionalism and progressive concern about practice boundaries continue to be obstacles to collaborative practice. These need to be addressed by medical and nursing professionals on the institutional level and in the political arena. Collaboration between nurses and physicians need not remain only a researchable issue; its viability and vitality are crucial to the changing health care scene. Understanding the issues that affect collaboration, as well as the historical background in which it has developed, can help nurses and physicians in their joint effort to improve health care delivery.