Perceptions that affect physician-nurse collaboration in the perioperative setting

AORN Journal,  July, 2007  by L. Suzanne Sterchi

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DATA ANALYSIS

Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the major study variables and sample demographics. Total scores on the Jefferson Scale of Attitudes Toward Physician-Nurse Collaboration were determined for the physician and nurse groups. Mean scores for each group were compared, and a two-tailed t test was used to compare the mean total scores of the physician and nurse groups, the male and female physician groups, and the male and female nurse groups. Respondents in the physician and nurse groups were then divided into two different categories: those with 10 years of experience or less and those with 11 years of experience or more. Mean total scores were then compared between these two categories in both the nurse and physician groups. The two-tailed t test again was used to test for significance of mean score differences.

Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was then performed on the mean total scores of the day surgery, OR, and PACU nurses to see if significant differences existed in attitudes toward collaboration between the three different groups of nurses. The same parametric testing (ie, ANOVA) was used to compare the physician and nurse mean scores in each of the four factor analysis dimensions: physician's dominance, nurses' autonomy, shared education and teamwork, and caring as opposed to curing.

RESULTS

A total of 137 physicians and nurses participated in the study. Of the 72 physicians who received surveys, 65 returned completed surveys for a 90% return rate; these participants represent 33% of physicians with surgical and anesthesia privileges at the facility. Of the physician participants, 88% were male (n = 57) and 12% were female (n = 8). When physicians were separated into groups by years of experience, 32% (n = 21) had 10 years of experience or less and 68% (n = 44) had 11 years of experience or more.

In the nurse group, 72 of the 102 nurses (71%) employed in the perioperative division of this facility returned completed surveys. Of the nurse respondents, only 3% were male (n = 2) and 97% (n = 70) were female. In regard to experience, 25% (n = 18) of nurses had 10 years of experience or less and 75% (n = 54) had 11 years of experience or more. Nurses were divided into three specialty units: day surgery (n = 25, 35% of participants), OR (n = 35, 49% of participants), and PACU (n = 12, 16% of the participants).

When total scores on the Jefferson Scale of Attitudes Toward Physician-Nurse Collaboration were compared between the physician and nurse groups, the nurses' mean total score was 54.01 (standard deviation [SD] = 3.59) compared to the physicians' mean total score of 50.29 (SD = 4.71). The nurses' mean total score was shown to be significantly higher than the physicians' mean total score (t = 127.532, df = 71, P < .000), indicating that the nurses' attitudes toward physician-nurse collaboration were more positive than the physicians'.

With only two male nurse participants, the mean score comparison with female nurses was unreliable for examining for differences in perceptions or attitudes on the basis of gender. The male physicians' mean total score was 50.32 (SD = 4.61), which was significantly higher than the female physicians' mean total score of 50.13 (SD = 5.67, t = 82, df = 56, P < .000).