Nineteenth century handmaids or twenty-first century partners?

The purpose of this paper is to consider the processes influencing the nature of the relationship between hospital medical and nursing staff.

Posits the question "how far has this relationship come?" since the influential Briggs Report of the 1970s declared that the nineteenth-century handmaid model remained a powerful concept. To address whether this still holds true, a series of potentially influencing factors are explored. These include the differing historical development of medicine and nursing. Also how the relative roles, of nursing in particular, are changing and the effects of the external policy and political influences at play. Gender issues are considered, with particular regard to how care is conceptualised, and not least the contribution to relations by doctors and nurses themselves are explored.

The paper discusses how three doctor-nurse relationship models have attempted to account for the way these two groups interact. A fourth perspective is put forward as a potentially revealing way of viewing group relations, taking from the social psychology-based theory of social identification.

The paper maintains that a frank and open discussion of the problems that may be encountered in developing the doctor-nurse relationship is a vitally important ingredient for modern health care. By employing a polemic style the key aim of this paper is to stimulate debate between the relevant parties in this area and to attempt to highlight some of the less obvious factors that may represent tangible barriers to effective partnership.