Statement of problem

Both the safety and the quality of care patients receive depend upon the quality of the healthcare

practice environment where care is provided. Doctors and nurses make up the largest groups of

individuals within this environment. The relationship between these two groups is a major

determinant of the quality of the healthcare practice environment. Abuse (verbal or physical) and

intimidating or disrespectful behavior by doctors toward nurses impacts the healthcare practice

environment in a negative way, affecting both nurse retention and patient. It is important that

healthcare organizations not only have a method in place to identify intimidating or disrespectful

behaviors and a process for disciplinary action for offenders, but also a way to monitor

relationships between nurses and physicians over time to determine the impact of any

remediation interventions.

Numerous studies have reported that there is a widespread occurrence of medical errors during

drug administration, which ultimately causes a rise in adverse drug effects. These errors can be

primarily attributed to inadequate team-work, poor communication and weak interpersonal

interactions. Since nurses are physically present with patients to a greater degree than any other

clinician, they are in a unique position to both assess patient responses to therapies and then

communicate those changes in order to ensure the most appropriate therapy is being

administered.

Nurse/physician collaboration is studied worldwide, however this clollaboration not been studied

in Palestine.