Nuances of the Female Nurse-Physician Relationship: An Evolution Across Time

Gender bias in academic medicine is increasingly recognized as a widespread phenomenon and has generated substantial research and discussion in recent years. Gender bias goes beyond leadership positions and financial compensation and extends to interprofessional relationships, including relationships with allied staff. Few studies have examined the female nurse-physician relationship, and the goal of this review is to consolidate the existing evidence and gaps in the literature with regard to this dyad. A literature search was conducted through MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PubMed, and Google Scholar, and 13 pertinent articles were identified for inclusion in this review. Earlier studies found that female physicians and nurses generally reported improved communication and increased satisfaction when both parties were female. Over the years, several studies have emerged suggesting that the female nurse-physician relationship in fact presents with some challenges. Recent studies have found that female physicians often feel they do not receive the same level of assistance or respect from female nurses and have more difficulty communicating with them compared with male physicians. These results were reproduced in several quantitative and qualitative studies across multiple countries. The reported female nurse perspective of this relationship has been overall more positive, but recent studies have had a stronger focus on the physician perspective. Several hypotheses are discussed as to why such an evolution has occurred in the female nurse-physician relationship. There continue to be important gaps in the literature, including more in-depth evaluations of the female nurse perspective and investigation of the male perspective of the nurse-physician relationship.