Perceptions of Nurses on Physician-Nurse Communications at Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

Effective communication between nurses and physicians is very important in facilitating improved patient care outcomes. The main aim of this study was to identify the perspectives of Pediatric Intensive Care Unit's nurses at referral hospital in Riyadh about Nurse-Physician communication. The researcher applied a Nurse-Physician Questionnaire for data collection with 55 nurses who works at Pediatric Intensive Care Unit nurses at King Abdul-Aziz Medical City in Riyadh. The entire questionnaire consists of 47 scales used to measure variables that affect relationships between nurses and physicians. All items of communication were analyzed using ANOVA test comparing the mean of agreement level of different communication domains with satisfaction level Results: Response rate for Pediatric Intensive Care Unit nurses was 75% with more than 50% of the particapted nurses were satisfied with their communication with physicians and only less than 20% were not satisified. The nurses were all females with more than 10 years of nursing experience, the majorities were expatriates and their ages ranged between 30 and 40 years old. Conclusion: It is concluded from the results that the majority of nurses who work in hospital intensive unit were satisfied with their communications with physicians who work at the same department, this important as this communication may enhance patients care as well as nursing retention at work. Addressing communication as part of the health care professional curriculum is also recommended in order to provide better care for patients.