Original scientific paper
Relationship Between Nurses and Physicians in Terms of Organizational Culture: Who Is Responsible for Subordination of Nurses?
Brigita Skela Savič
; College of Nursing Jesenice, Slovenia
Milan Pagon
; Faculty of Organizational Sceince in Kranj, University of Maribor, Slovenia
Abstract
Aim To investigate how nurses and physicians perceive organizational
culture, their integration into the organizational processes, and relations
within a health care team.
Methods We performed a cross-sectional study that included 106 physicians
and 558 nurses from 14 Slovenian hospitals in December 2005.
The hospitals were randomly selected. We distributed the questionnaires
on the same day to physicians and nurses during a morning shift. The
total number of distributed questionnaires represented a 20% of each
personnel category at each hospital. The following variables were studied:
organizational culture, integration of nurses and physicians in hospital
processes, and subordination of nurses to physicians.
Results Physicians and nurses favored a culture of internal focus, stability,
and control. Both groups estimated that they had a low level of
personal involvement in their organizations and indicated insufficient
involvement in work teams, while nurses also thought that they were subordinated
to physicians (mean ± standard deviation, 3.6 ± 0.9 on a scale
from 1 to 5) more than physicians thought so (2.7 ± 1.0; P<0.001).. Control
orientation correlated positively with the subordination of nurses
(P<0.005) and negatively with personal integration in an organization
(P<0.005).
Conclusion We found out that subordination of nurses can be explained
by market culture, level of personal involvement, and the level of education.
Our research showed that the professional growth of nurses was
mainly threatened by organizational factors such as hierarchy, control
orientation, a lack of cooperation and team building between physicians
and nurses, as well as insufficient inclusion of both physicians and nurses
into change implementation activities.
Keywords
nurses; doctors; organisational culture; relationship; team work; personal involvement; subordination
Hrčak ID:
29249
URI
Publication date:
15.6.2008.
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