The Nurses' Perception of Nurse-Physician Professional Relationship in Abu-Ali-Sina Organ Transplantation in Shiraz: A Descriptive Study in Iran

Highly professional communication could result in the improvement of the quality of care such as reduced mortality, medical error, length of stay, and unplanned readmission. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the nurses' perception of nurse-physician professional relationship in Abu-Ali-Sina organ transplant hospital of Shiraz.

 This is a descriptive study performed cross-sectionally in Abu-Ali-Sina hospital in Shiraz in 2020. The sampling method was the census. All nurses working at Abu-Ali-Sina Organ Transplant Hospital (N=295) participated in the study, so no sampling was applied.  A questionnaire was used to assess the nurses’ perception of the nurse-physician professional relationship that consisted of demographic data and 25 questions with three-point Likert scale about nurse-physician communication. This tool was used in a previous study(1). Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24.

The finding of this study showed that the level of professional nurses- physician relationship was moderate from the nurses' point of view. Reporting of patient issues to physicians (72.2%), physicians' respect (67.8%), and trust (66.1%) to nurses were highly desirable at Abu-Ali-Sina Hospital. However, the nurse’s assertive skills to tell the physicians’ errors (14.2%) and their encouragement by physicians (10.2%) were not favorable.  

 From the results, it is possible to conclude that the nurse-physician professional relationship is at a moderate level in Abu-Ali Sina Transplant Center. Further studies are need to implement intervention for improving the level of physician and nurse’s relationship.