IN THE JANUARY issue of Nursing2007, I explored the topic of “Nurse/Physician Relationships— Improving or Not?” 1 I also invited nurses to complete a survey about their professional relationships with physicians. The questions were similar to those posed in a Nursing90 survey of nurse/physician relationships that drew 1,100 respondents. 2 These results were reported in Nursing91. 3 Nearly 900 nurses participated in this survey. In this article, I’ll report on their responses and compare them with those from the earlier poll. Then I’ll discuss how nurses’ opinions of their professional relationships have changed over the years. Let’s start by examining the results of this survey. Please note that numbers have been rounded and that not all respondents answered every question. Glass half full or half empty? More than half of respondents—57%—say they’re generally satisfied with their professional relationships with physi- cians; a significant minority, 43%, reports dissatisfaction. In 1991, 43% of respondents expressed satisfaction with their relationships with physicians and 56% were dissatis- fied. The near reversal of these percentages after 17 years suggests that the scales have tipped in a more positive direc- tion among nurses surveyed. When asked to state overall satisfaction with nurse/ physician relationships on a sliding scale of 1 to 5, respon- dents replied as follows: As you can see, most nurses—74%—are at least moder- ately satisfied, but more than a quarter are generally dissatis- fied. Overall, the positive trend is encouraging. Only a few nurses who say they’re satisfied with their relationships with physicians provided comments. Most say they work in an environment that fosters mutual interdependence, team- work, and collaboration, such as the ICU, CCU, and postanesthesia care unit. Respondents believe that physi- cians are more likely to respect and appreciate nurses’ knowledge and skills when they work closely with nurses and get to know them well. This perception is supported by simi- lar findings in the current literature. 4 You’ll recall that a sizable number (43%) of current sur- vey participants say they’re dissatisfied with their overall relationships with physicians. Most of these are staff nurses working in medical/surgical units or CCUs, despite the fact that most respondents working in CCUs said they were more satisfied. Although the percentage of dissatisfied nurs- es has dropped from 1991, general dissatisfaction remains. Dissatisfied nurses give many reasons for their negative feelings, and even nurses who report overall satisfaction say they’re dissatisfied with certain aspects of their relationships with physicians. Let’s look more closely at why. Characterizing relationships Here’s how nurses characterize their relationships with physicians in their clinical settings: Nurses are subordinate to physicians 57% 46% Nurses and physicians have collegial relationships 29% 38% Other 12% 16% Although this aspect of relationships has improved some since the earlier survey, respondents’ comments indicate that they perceive several factors to be at play here: • male physicians’ perceptions of traditional sex and cultural roles 28 | Nursing2008 | July www.nursing2008.com Nurse/physician relationships survey report ISSUES IN NURSING Nursing2008 By Theodora Sirota, APRN,BC, PhD Are physicians and nurses pulling together more now than when we reported our last survey in 1991? Compare your experiences with those of readers responding to this nationwide survey. 41% 33% 26% More satisfied (4 and 5) Moderately satisfied (3) More dissatisfied (1 and 2) 1991 2008