Veterinary nurses report good interprofessional collaboration with veterinarians, as measured by the Nurse-Physician...

Veterinary practices provide exceptional patient care and client support when there is effective teamwork between veterinary nurses and veterinarians. However, the frequency of this interprofessional collaboration has not been measured.

A cross-sectional online survey, using the Nurse‒Physician Collaboration Scale to measure the frequency of the collaborative behaviours of joint decision making (JDM), cooperativeness (C) and sharing patient information (SPI), was administered to registered and student veterinary nurses. A multivariable logistic regression model was constructed for each behaviour construct.

Veterinary nurses (n = 835) self-reported collaboration with veterinarians at item level as either 'good' or 'mixed' (defined as a median item score ≤2 or >2‒3.5). Overall, the median (interquartile range) scores by collaborative behaviour construct were 2 (2‒3) for JDM, 2 (1‒3) for C and 2 (2‒3) for SPI. Multivariable analysis found that role and practice type were significantly associated with participants reporting good experiences in each behaviour construct.

The survey did not capture the perspectives of veterinarians for comparison.

Collaboration between veterinary nurses and veterinarians is good, but improvements in all behaviour constructs could be made. Efforts should focus on improving communication and increasing the opportunities to mutually participate in patient care decision making.