PERCEPTIONS OF NURSES AND PHYSICIANS REGARDING NURSE- PHYSICIAN COLLABORATION AND ASSOCIATED DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS AT MMC, MARDAN, KPK PAKISTAN; A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Abstract

Background:

This cross-sectional study aims to investigate the perceptions of nurses and physicians about nurse-physician collaboration and the impact of demographic factors (age, gender, educational status, length of service and department of work) on their perceptions in Mardan Medical Complex, Mardan, KPK, Pakistan. Effective collaboration is necessary in improving inter-professional coordination and enhancing overall patients’ health outcomes. Evaluating the perceptions of nurses and physicians about their collaboration will give us an idea about current and future levels of collaboration and, hence, it can facilitate the administrators of tertiary care hospitals to develop evidence-based interventions aimed at improving interdisciplinary collaboration and teamwork.

Objectives:

The main objectives of this study are: 

1. a) To evaluate the perceptions of nurses and physicians regarding nurse-physician collaboration.

1. b) To examine the impact of demographic factors on nurse-physician perception.

Method:

A total of 154 nurses and physicians have participated in this study in which 74 are nurses and 80 are physicians. The sample size is calculated through Raosoft software and convenience sampling technique is used throughout this research. Data for this research is collected from the willing participants through a structured questionnaire that measures the perceptions of our participants  about interdisciplinary collaboration. The data was further analyzed to determine whether the demographic factors influence the perceptions of our participants.

Results:

This study held among 154 participants i-e; aged 20-30 years (61.7%), 30-40 years (32.5%), and 40-50 years (5.8%). Gender distribution indicates 58.4% male, 40.9% female and 0.6% chose not to disclose their gender. In terms of educational background, 51.9% participants hold MBBS degree, 34.4% hold BSN//Post RN degree and 13.6% hold nursing diplomas. About 64.3% participants reported 1-5 years of experience in healthcare system. Majority of the participants work in general wards i-e; 61.7% and smaller groups in critical and surgical wards i-e; 17.5% and 19.5% respectively. The total scores of  participants show a mean of 61.34 that indicate moderate variability based on assessed perceptions, with a near even split between negative and positive perceptions as 50.6% and 49.4% respectively. Significantly, BSN/Post RN degree holders exhibit a more positive perception compared to those with nursing diplomas or MBBS qualifications. This highlights a subtle relationship between educational background and professional attitudes.

Conclusion:

These findings suggest that the collaboration among nurses and other health care workers (HCW) is very much important for the smooth activities in the health care center. The more positive the perception of the HCWs, the better the outcome in terms of staff satisfaction and patient recovery. The study identified that there is need of continuous training to the HCWs to meet the required need.