Securing Good nurse Physician Relationships by Krame M and Schmalenberg - Article Example

A critique of the literature Name Institution A critique of the literature Article on good nurse-physician relationship This article explores the critical area of nurse-physician relationship with a focus on what enhances or destroys the relationship. This topic is very import in health service provision and emphasizes the importance of good relationship. The authors use power as the fundamental variable in their effort to describe nurse-physician relationships in magnet hospitals that realizes high attraction rates of staff members and low turnover. Marlene Kramer and Claudia Schmalenberg carried out the study through interviews conducted in fourteen magnet hospitals whereby 146 nurse managers and 279 staff nurses were interviewed. These facilities are famous for low turnover, high attraction, and reputation for high quality care and job satisfaction. The authors report that empirical researches on nurse-physician relationships are very much outdated. Research has shown the importance of good nurse-physician relationship in healthcare facilities. Mortality rates go down due to improved nurse-physician relationship. The authors build a good background of the article as they look at various researches that have talked about the subject under discussion (Krame & Schmalenberg, 2003). One idea to the next has been developed superbly within this article. Nurse-physician relationship has been categorized into collaborative, collegial, student-teacher, neutral, and negative relationship. In negative relationship, hostility, frustration, and resignation are prevalent. Nurses in this relationship complain about being snapped by physicians. In neutral relationships, there in no feeling marks. Nurses feel that they are not contributing much in this relationship. These types of relationship possess power that is unequal with neutral outcomes. In collaborative relationships, there are respect, mutual trust, and power producing willing cooperation between the members of staff. Nurses possess knowledge that is valued by the physicians in the course of their care of patients. Collegial relationships are excellent which have ingredients of equality that accompany knowledge and power. Power and knowledge division between nurses and physicians and the subsequent respect that exist between them decide the direction of the relationship that would be realized. Student-teacher relationships are described as being courteous, friendly, tolerant, good, and pleasant. Physicians are in a position of teaching, discussing, and explaining. In these relationships, outcomes are beneficial while power is unequal. Every type of relationship in this article gives various examples of the discussed relationships between the nurses and physicians. The authors further explore the differences that exist between collaborative and collegial. These terms, they say, are used interchangeably but they do not mean the same. The authors provide examples of this kind of relationship in manner that is very elaborate to the any average reader. Equal knowledge is the foundation of collegial knowledge whereas power is mutual and not equal in collaborative relationships. Nurses and physicians learn from one another in the case of collegial and collaborative relationship. Nurses have sense of equality to physicians in the collegial relationships. The authors have gone ahead to explain how success can be realized in collegial relationships. Three ways are suggested by the authors as being fundamental to development of collegial relationships. One of the ways is to nurture and plant different but equal seed. During staff meetings it is important to show how knowledge of nurses differs from that of physicians but emphasizing its importance. Secondly, it is vital to come up with culture that rewards, expects, and values collegial relationship. In this way, physicians and nurses come to respect each other for their role in health facilities. Staff nurses have to be evaluated as they relate with physicians but focusing on the patient. Lastly, there is the need to encourage, support, and foster educational program of different types (Krame & Schmalenberg, 2003). The elaborate examples are important in the understanding the relevance of the issue under discussion in the medical fraternity. These real illustrations give a deeper understanding into the subject under discussion. The readers can relate what is being talked about in the article with real situations in the world. The authors have demonstrated that they actually have a deeper understanding of the subject under discussion. Physicians recognize the equality that exists in the relationship in a subtle or overt manner. Nurses in outpatient and emergency departments demonstrated more collegial relationship to surgical or medical units. The physicians are respected for their vast knowledge in medicine. The importance of good nurse-physician relations foster the welfare of the health facility and benefit the patient immensely. Both nurses and doctors or physicians need each other for them to be successful in giving their services to patients. Animosity does help in enhancing the welfare of the patient. The patient suffers when there is a bad relationship between the doctors and nurses. The authors proceed to discuss relationship factors in this article giving example of the type of relationships that have been mentioned earlier. Collegial relationship being the best of the five types of relationships has been discussed in detail in this article. The flow of thoughts and presentation of ideas has been done in superb manner to give the reader a quick understanding of the subject under discussion. The authors have used three columns in representing their ideas which is not a big problem. The only thing is that it may be confusing and time consuming for someone who is trying to follow the flow of paragraphs from one to another. It would have been better for one column or two to be used in order to make it easier for the reader to follow the flow sentences and paragraphs. This manner of representation gives readers some challenge in following the transition from one paragraph to another or a sentence to another. There is a part in this article that relates to clinical teaching rounds yielding collaboration that brings interruption since it is represented as some part of another article, but which relates to the topic under discussion. This part is confusing as the reader tries to follow different types of relationships that are exhibited between nurses and physicians. The little bits of pictorial marks that have been used in this article do not add value to its understanding. It could have been better for the marks to have been left out to avoid unnecessary congestion of the article. The blank space that has been left in the middle of the article does not add value to its general understanding of the article. The authors have done a good job in explaining different types of relationships that exist between nurses and physicians. This article would contribute to a big deal in improvement of nurse-physician relationships in other types of health facilities apart from magnet hospitals. This article gives a good direction towards understanding the impediments that hinder nurse-patient relationship that is excellent as in the case of collegial relationships. The authors make the readers understand how well collegial relationships can be fostered within the realm of health service. Quotations from real situations that are used in the article contribute to its understanding. The authors have used easy-to-understand words without complicating issues. There are no hard expressions that are used within the article thus making it easy to follow the topic under discussion. The language used is direct and does not include application of technical terms. Any word that is unfamiliar has been dully explained within the article. The authors of the article are all very experienced and have undertaken nursing courses or served as nurses previously. Marlene Kramer has PhD while Claudia Schmalenberg has masters in nursing. Both authors are research associates in nursing. The vast knowledge of the authors makes them represent ideas in an articulate manner. The subtitles that have been used throughout the article make it easier for a reader to trace any type of information he has read in the article, and also easily understand what is being discussed under each title. However, the authors have majorly based their article on magnet hospitals without exploring other types of health facilities. The relevance and application of this article could be enhanced by the expounding on discussed subject in other types of settings. Credibility of the article cannot be doubted with regard to the credentials of these authors. They have a vast knowledge of what they are discussing in the article. The title or topic of the article relate well to the content of the article. This title is relevant and precise in regard to the subject under discussion. ‘Securing good nurse-physician relationship’ as a title, represent the large of part of work that is contained in the article itself. The writers have undertaken to demonstrate the connection that exists between quality patient care and collaboration. The authors have used empirical evidence obtained from research to discuss various factors that affect nurse-physician relationship. The nurses were explored more as compared to the physicians. The various parts of the article are well knitted together. The references that have been used for this article are very relevant to the topic under discussion. The authors have indicated within the article where they have used other writers’ materials or referred to their research by the use of foot notes. This is important for anyone who would want additional information on other materials that have been used within the article. The abstract of the article is not large enough to present to the reader at a quick glance what is being discussed within the article. The authors have given a good historical background of the subject under discussion drawing examples from other previous researches. The article sets the pace for other discussion that may focus on the relationship between nurses and physicians (Krame & Schmalenberg, 2003). This article has a weak conclusion which is not even powerful enough. The authors use about two sentences to summarize the authors could have taken some time to come up with an excellent conclusion that summarizes what has been discussed in the article and gives a guide into future research that are needed. The conclusion should have been a bit longer and recap most of the things discussed within the article. As it has put in the conclusion, it will seem that it is only collegial relationships that have been discussed throughout the article. The conclusion does not mention the other aspects apart from collegial relationships that have been discussed within the article. The conclusion should have at least mentioned different areas different areas that have been talked about in the article. The whole article does not talk about collegial relationship although it forms a large portion of the entire article. Using only two sentences to summary the whole article was very economical of the authors. The abstract and the conclusion are important parts of the article that every care should be done to represent them well. Reference Krame, M. & Schmalenberg, C. (2003). Securing Good nurse Physician Relationships: Exploring the Link Between Collaboration and Quality Patient Care. Retrieved on May 6, 2012 from Read More