Attitudes toward physician-nurse collaboration in anesthesia

Area of Science:

• Anesthesiology
• Healthcare Collaboration
• Nursing Professional Studies

Background:

• Collaboration between physicians and nurses is crucial for effective healthcare delivery.
• Previous research indicates divergent attitudes toward collaboration between physicians and nurses.
• The specialty field of anesthesia involves close interaction between anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the attitudes of anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists towards interprofessional collaboration.
• To investigate potential differences in collaborative attitudes within the anesthesia practice setting.

Main Methods:

• A descriptive, comparative study utilizing a mailed survey.
• Participants included licensed anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists across seven US states.
• Attitudes toward collaboration were measured using an adapted Jefferson Scale of Attitudes Toward Physician-Nurse Collaboration.
• Data were analyzed using independent samples t-tests.

Main Results:

• Nurse anesthetists (n=238) demonstrated significantly higher mean total scores for attitudes toward collaboration compared to anesthesiologists (n=66).
• The observed difference in collaborative attitudes between the two groups was statistically significant (t = 14.6, P < .05).
• No significant differences in attitudes toward collaboration were found based on sexual gender.

Conclusions:

• Divergent perspectives on collaboration, previously noted between physicians and nurses generally, may also exist within the anesthesia specialty.
• The findings suggest that nurse anesthetists hold more favorable views on collaboration compared to anesthesiologists.
• Gender was not found to be a contributing factor to differences in collaborative attitudes in this study.