Nurses’ perception of nurse-physician collaboration at emergency departments in the Gaza governorates

Abstract

Background and Aim: Nurse–physician collaboration is a fundamental component of interprofessional healthcare, in which nurses and physicians share responsibilities and professional goals to improve patient outcomes. Effective collaboration enhances clinical decision-making, patient safety, and quality of care. This study aimed to assess nurses’ perceptions of nurse–physician collaboration in emergency departments of Ministry of Health hospitals in the Gaza Governorate, Palestine.
Methods and Materials: A cross-sectional study was conducted between January and April 2023 using a census sample of 205 nurses working in emergency departments of Ministry of Health hospitals. Data were collected using the Jefferson Scale of Attitudes toward Physician–Nurse Collaboration, a validated fifteen-item self-administered questionnaire that measures attitudes toward collaborative practice. Higher scores indicate more positive perceptions. The scale includes four domains: shared education and collaboration, responsibility and role expectations, nurses’ autonomy, and physicians’ authority.
Results: The findings revealed a high level of nurse–physician collaboration in emergency departments of governmental hospitals in Gaza, with an overall weighted mean of 78.4 percent, indicating positive perceptions among nurses. Among the four domains, nurses’ autonomy ranked highest at 88.2 percent, followed by responsibility and role expectations at 87.9 percent, and shared education and collaboration at 87.3 percent. Physicians’ authority ranked lowest at 50.0 percent, suggesting a perceived imbalance in decision-making authority.
Conclusion: The study demonstrates a strong positive perception of nurse–physician collaboration among nurses in governmental hospital emergency departments in Gaza. However, the low rating of physicians’ authority highlights the need to further examine interprofessional dynamics. Nursing and medical leadership are encouraged to implement strategies that strengthen collaboration and to conduct further research from physicians’ perspectives across different hospital departments.