The role of professional and team commitments in nurse-physician collaboration

Aim To analyse the effect of both professional and care unit commitments onattitudes towards interprofessional collaboration between nurses and physicians.Background The effects of both professional and care unit commitment on inter-professional collaboration have not been taken into account together, andprevious research has analysed only one professi on at a time, neglecting thenurse–physician comparison.Method A cross-sectional survey of 138 physicians and 359 nurses was used.Results For physicians, professional commitment decreased attitudes towardsinterprofessional collaboration whereas care unit commitme nt had a positiveinfluence. Conversely, for nurses, the professi onal commitment had a significantpositive effect on attitudes towards interprofessional collaboration whereas careunit commitment had no significant effect.Conclusion Intergroup relations affect the extent to which nurses and physiciansare inclined to engage in interprofessional collaboration. Professional and careunit commitments had different effects on attitude toward the inter-professionalcollaboration of nurses and physicians.Implication for Nursing Management Inter-professional collaboration is affectedby the relationship between physicians and nurse at the professional group level.Managers who want to change and improve inter-professional collaborationshould pay close attention to the interplay between changes they are introducingand well-established identities and practices between professionals.