%0 Journal Article
%T Questionnaire survey of working relationships between nurses and doctors in University Teaching Hospitals in Southern Nigeria
%A Roseline I Ogbimi
%A Clement A Adebamowo
%J BMC Nursing
%D 2006
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1472-6955-5-2
%X Questionnaire survey of doctors and nurses working in four UTH in Southern Nigeria was done in 2002. The setting and subjects were selected by random sampling procedures. Information on factors in domains of work, union activities, personnel and hospital management were studied using closed and open-ended questionnaires.Nurse-doctor working relationships were statistically significantly affected by poor after-work social interaction, staff shortages, activist unionism, disregard for one's profession, and hospital management and government policies. In general, nurses had better opinion of doctors' work than doctors had about nurses' work.Working relationships between doctors and nurses need to be improved through improved training and better working conditions, creation of better working environment, use of alternative methods of conflict resolution and balanced hospital management and government policies. This will improve the retention of staff, job satisfaction and efficiency of health care delivery in Nigeria.Smooth working relationships between doctors and nurses are prerequisite for efficient delivery of health care. This has often been overlooked to the detriment of patients' care and increased cost to the health care system, particularly in developing countries. In many countries, doctors determine the scope of nursing practice and education, and can directly define the limits of nursing knowledge[1,2]. In Nigeria, doctors also head public health care institutions which gives them additional opportunities to influence the training of nurses [3]. Nevertheless, several authors have argued that these working relationships are changing and should be examined against prevailing developments in the professions, society and workplace [4-6].Gjerberg and Kjolsrod[7] opined that increasing male entry into nursing and female entry into medicine may change the perception of the role of gender in doctors-nurses working relationships. In many countries, including Nigeria,
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6955/5/2