Nurse-Physician Collaboration: Barriers to Communication
This paper examines the barriers that prevent effective collaboration and communication between nurses and physicians, and the impact of those failures on patient care. Drawing on both primary and secondary literature, the paper identifies patriarchal gender dynamics, hierarchical "us versus them" attitudes, and poor physical accessibility of supervising personnel as key obstacles. It also highlights the undervalued but essential role nurses play in day-to-day patient care and argues that genuine respect across all levels of the clinical team is a prerequisite for the harmony and collaboration that patients deserve.
- Introduction: Communication failures between nurses and physicians harm patients
- Barriers to Nurse-Physician Collaboration: Gender dynamics and hierarchy prevent effective teamwork
- The Role of Accessibility and Patient Involvement: Supervisor accessibility and patient inclusion improve collaboration
- Hierarchy, Respect, and the Nurse's Role: Nurses deserve respect for their essential patient care role
- Conclusion: Mutual respect and collaboration are essential for patient safety
✍️ How to write this paper — guide, tools & examples ▾
What makes this paper effective
- The paper grounds its argument in a concrete real-world problem — communication failures that harm or kill patients — giving the analysis immediate stakes and relevance.
- It moves logically from identifying broad structural barriers (gender, rank) to practical recommendations (accessible supervisors, patient inclusion), demonstrating organized analytical thinking.
- The custodian analogy in the conclusion is a memorable rhetorical move that reinforces the argument about the value of lower-ranking contributors without overstating it.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper uses a brief literature review to anchor its claims in peer-reviewed and empirical sources, citing Fewster-Thuente (2015) and Johnson & Kring (2012) to validate observations about gender dynamics and nurse-physician relationships. This keeps the argument from reading as purely opinion-based while remaining accessible to a general academic audience.
Structure breakdown
The paper follows a classic short-report structure: an introductory framing section establishes the problem and stakes; a literature review section surveys barriers and existing research; and a brief conclusion synthesizes the argument with a call for mutual respect and collaboration. Each section builds directly on the previous one, maintaining a clear and coherent progression throughout.
Introduction
It would probably make sense to most people that nurses and physicians should work together to provide the highest level of medical care to their patients. However, there are many instances where this collaboration simply does not happen. The end result of this lack of communication and collaboration is that patients suffer injuries or even death. Given this reality, it is both useful and necessary to understand why these communication failures occur.
This brief report will address that question and more. While nurses and physicians are surely making good-faith efforts to avoid mistakes that kill or harm patients, it is apparent that at least some clinicians are either not doing enough or are not taking the right approach to begin with. Patient safety depends on effective interprofessional communication, and this paper examines the structural barriers that stand in the way.
Barriers to Nurse-Physician Collaboration
One of the major hurdles to collaboration and teamwork in the medical field is the patriarchal relationships that persist within clinical settings. Many doctors are men and many nurses are women, and this dynamic appears to lead some male physicians to disengage from meaningful collaboration with nursing staff. As a result, important information goes undiscussed, or is not discussed with sufficient depth. Male physicians who perceive themselves as superior to nurses contribute directly to miscommunication and a general absence of open dialogue (Johnson & Kring, 2012).
A general lack of harmony and proper collaboration also presents a persistent problem. Just as a gender rivalry or dynamic can surface in many workplace settings, an "us versus them" mentality in healthcare prevents patients from receiving the care they deserve. The process of collaboration is not always linear, and that is acceptable — provided there is a proper "looping back" to cover everything that needs to be addressed. What matters most is that all relevant information surfaces so that the patient is fully and properly cared for. Both primary and secondary research on this subject is largely unanimous: building a collaborative paradigm between nurses and physicians is essential to maximizing patient outcomes (Glaser, 1998).
The Role of Accessibility and Patient Involvement
Another barrier that frequently leads to problems is that supervising nurses and physicians are not accessible or easy to locate. It is important for all levels of nursing and medical staff to remain in consistent contact. Whether this means designating a conference room, a central station, or some other clearly identified location where managers and key personnel can be found, the goal is the same: reliable accessibility. The solution that works best will naturally depend on the characteristics of a given clinical environment.
Where possible and practical, patients themselves should be involved in the collaboration process. There will be situations in which having the patient present or within earshot is not appropriate, but in those cases it is straightforward enough to step away and have the necessary private discussions. Establishing some ground rules and parameters in advance can be helpful. Regardless of the approach taken, all personnel involved must be aligned on the path forward, the available options, and the true state of the patient's condition (Fewster-Thuente, 2015).
Conclusion
Rank and the privilege it confers are not in question. However, there is a meaningful difference between appropriately exercising authority and ignoring the contributions of every level of personnel involved in patient care. Consider that a custodian holds no high-ranking position, yet keeps facilities clean in ways whose absence would have obvious and wide-reaching consequences. Nursing and medical care are no different — except that the stakes are considerably higher.
Collaboration and harmony should be actively encouraged and pursued. Nurses should be treated with the respect their role demands, and physicians should recognize that genuine partnership with nursing staff is not a concession of authority but a precondition for the quality of care that every patient deserves.
References
Fewster-Thuente, L. (2015). Working together toward a common goal: A grounded theory of nurse-physician collaboration. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26665873
Johnson, S., & Kring, D. (2012). Nurses' perceptions of nurse-physician relationships: Medical-surgical vs. intensive care. MEDSURG Nursing, 21(6), 343–347.
Create your account
Always verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.