Attitudes towards interprofessional collaboration among primary care physicians and nurses in Singapore

ABSTRACT

Interprofessional collaboration (IPC) has been shown to improve patient outcomes, cost efficiency, and health professional satisfaction, and enhance healthy workplaces. We determined the attitudes of primary care physicians and nurses towards IPC and factors facilitating IPC using a cross-sectional study design in Singapore. A self-administered anonymous questionnaire, based on the Jefferson Scale of Attitudes toward Physician-Nurse Collaboration (JSAPNC), was distributed to primary healthcare physicians and nurses working in National Healthcare Group Polyclinics (N = 455). We found that the mean JSAPNC score for physicians was poorer than that for nurses (50.39 [SD = 4.67] vs. 51.61 [SD = 4.19], respectively, mean difference, MD = 1.22, CI = 0.35–2.09, p = .006). Nurses with advanced education had better mean JSAPNC score than nurses with basic education (52.28 [SD = 4.22] vs. 51.12 [SD = 4.11], respectively, MD = 1.16, CI = 0.12–2.20, p = .029). Male participants had poorer mean JSAPNC score compared to females (50.27 [SD = 5.02] vs. 51.38 [SD = 4.22], respectively MD = 1.11, CI = 0.07–2.14, p = .036). With regression analysis, only educational qualification among nurses was independently and positively associated with JSAPNC scores (p = .018). In conclusion, primary care nurses in Singapore had more positive attitudes towards IPC than physicians. Among nurses, those with advanced education had more positive attitudes than those with basic education. Greater emphasis on IPC education in training of physicians and nurses could help improve attitudes further.

KEYWORDS:

• Attitudes
• interprofessional collaboration
• nurse
• physician
• primary care

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the following for their advice and assistance: Dr. Tang Wern Ee, Dr. Predeebha d/o P N Kannan, Miss Ann Toh, Miss Grace Yee, Mr. Issac Lim Wai Yeen, and Miss Yvonne Yock Shu Hua. The authors would like to thank Dr. Hojat for his kind permission to use the Jefferson Scale of Attitudes toward Physician-Nurse Collaboration questionnaire for this study.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Funding

This study was funded by NHG-HOMER (National Healthcare Group-Health Outcomes and Medical Education Research), grant number NHG-HOMER FY11/A05.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by NHG-HOMER (National Healthcare Group-Health Outcomes and Medical Education Research), grant number NHG-HOMER FY11/A05.