Physicians’ perceptions of physician-nurse interactions and information needs in China

ABSTRACT

Background: Good communication between physicians and nurses is important for the understanding of disease status and treatment feedback; however, certain issues in Chinese hospitals could lead to suboptimal physician-nurse communication in clinical work. Methods: Convenience sampling was used to recruit participants. Questionnaires were sent to clinical physicians in three top tertiary Grade-A teaching hospitals in China and six hundred and seventeen physicians participated in the survey. Results: (1) Common physician-nurse interactions were shift-change reports and provisional reports when needed, and interactions expected by physicians included face-to-face reports and communication via a phone or mobile device. (2) Most respondents believed that the need for information in physician-nurse interactions was high, information was moderately accurate and timely, and feedback regarding interaction time and satisfaction indicated that they were only average and required improvement. (3) Information needs in physician-nurse interactions differed significantly according to hospital category, role, workplace, and educational background (p < .05). Conclusions: There was a considerable need for information within physician-nurse interactions, and the level of satisfaction with the information obtained was average; requirements for the improvement of communication differed between physicians and nurses because of differences in their characteristics. Currently, the use of information technology in physician-nurse communication was less common but was highly expected by physicians.

KEYWORDS:

• Communication
• information technology
• hospital communication system
• needs assessment
• physician–nurse relationships

Acknowledgments

This study was partly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) Grant #81 171 426 and #81471756.

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jianbo Lei

JL developed the conceptual framework and research protocol for the study. DW drafted the manuscript and JL made major revisions. DW and PG conducted the survey and data analyses. XZ provided comments and made revisions to the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.