Health, Spirituality and Medical Ethics

Interactions between physicians and nurses are regarded as an indicator to present the desirable care for the patient. The present study was conducted with aim of clarifying the status of communication and collaboration of nurses and physicians as well as the correlation between these two factors from the nurses' viewpoint.

This research was a descriptive - analytical study of the cross-sectional type in which all the nurses employed in the wards of 22 Bahman and Hakim hospitals of Neyshabur city participated as a census. The sample size was 162 persons according to Morgan table. To collect data a three-part questionnaire was used which included demographic information as well as the communication and collaboration of physicians and nurses. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS ver. 16 using descriptive and inferential statistical tests.

34.6% and 65.4% of nurses were employed in Hospitals of Hakim and 22 Bahman, respectively. 37%, 24.7% and 38.3% of them were working in intensive care units, the emergency ward and other wards, respectively. The results of the study showed that the amount of communication and collaboration of nurses with physicians in all scopes of communication was at a moderate level and a positive correlation was found between the scopes of communication and collaboration of physicians and nurses. A significant relationship also was found between communication, collaboration, and employees' demographic information.

Conclusion: The results showed that the effective communication between physicians and nurses is an important element in order to have collaboration between them. Therefore, better communication could improve collaboration of them