Collaboration among Physicians and Nurses in Intensive Care Units: A Qualitative Study

Year 2017, Issue: 1, 25 - 35, 01.06.2017

Yasemin Akbal Ergun Fevzi Akinci Aysegul Yildirim Kaptanoglu Jessica Wagner

Abstract

A health care transition project is currently underway in Turkey with the purpose of improving health care access, quality, and continuity of care by increasing patients’ and health care professionals’ satisfaction and cost effectiveness. Consequently, inter-professional collaboration in providing health care has a crucial role in increasing healthcare access, quality, and continuity of care in Turkey. This study aims to determine the factors influencing the collaborative experiences of nurses and physicians at intensive care units (ICUs). A qualitative research approach is used to determine how Turkish ICU nurses and physicians collaborate. Focus group, narrative analysis, and phenomenological approach methods are used to determine a qualitative framework for collaborations between nurses and physicians. A purposive sample of twelve physicians and twelve nurses were selected, and data were analyzed utilizing the content analysis method. The study was conducted in nine ICUs of three hospitals affiliated with two universities in Istanbul. Collaboration with three sub-themes (high, medium, and low) was identified. The results reveal an insufficient level of collaboration between physicians and nurses. Collaboration was identified as insufficient except for those nurses and physicians who had previously known each other. This relationship remains complex and unresolved, and needs to be understood and managed by ICU team leaders.

Keywords

Collaboration, Physicians, Nurses, Intensive care, Gender, Qualitative study