Working and co-operating in hospital practice

This article describes findings from a research project which was concerned to study interprofessional relationships between doctors and nurses in hospitals. The aims were to identify; (i) areas of difficulty and irritation; and fig what constitutes good practice. Suggestions for improvement are offered. Our research (1) into interprofssional relations between nurses and doctors in hospitals was concerned to undertake exploratory investigation of the dynamics of working relationships. We were concerned to identify areas in which conflict or difficulty were experienced and to identify what constitutes good or ‘ideal’ practice. Interviews were conducted with 127 doctors, from consultants to pre-registration house officers, and 135 nurses, both staff nurses and sister/charge nurses. Five locations were visited: two in Scotland and three in England. These included two teaching and three non-teaching hospitals. (Mackay, 1992). We focused, as far as possible, on five specialities: general surgery, general medicine, intensive therapy, medicine for the elderly and mental illness. In hospitals in which there were insufficient numbers of nurses and doctors working in any of these specialities we focused instead on otolaryngology and paediatrics. The interviews were semi-structured and lasted on average for 45 minutes. The interviews took place in late 1989 and throughout 1990. differences in the attributes regarding the 'ideal' nurse and the 'ideal' doctor have been identified (Mackay, 1991). Although we have been able to identify differences in perspective between nurses and doctors there is much common ground. The importance of good interprofessional relations was emphasized repeatedly during the interviews.