oa Comparison in perceptions and attitude towards effective communication and team collaboration among pediatric physicians and nurses following the implementation of multidisciplinary interventions

Background: Effective communication among physicians and nurses in in-patient settings is associated with better patient care¹, increased teamwork, and job satisfaction², however, no literature has addressed the concern of the gap in perception of communication between physicians and nurses.³ this study aims to explore the perceptions of physicians and nurses toward proper communication and collaboration before and after an intervention. The study period encompassed before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A cross-sectional pilot survey was administered in September-November 2015 in pediatrics in-patient wards at Hamad Medical Corporation (Doha, Qatar) followed by a post-intervention program survey in November-December 2020. The interventions included establishing a multidisciplinary unit-based council involving physicians and nurses, and a communication skills course for physicians. The questionnaire included details of demographics, perceptions towards proper communication, and collaboration in daily clinical practice. Questions used a 3-point Likert scale. Result: 124 responses (66% physician/44% nurses) were obtained in 2015 and 83 responses (51% physician/49% nurses) in 2020. The physicians’ reported perceptions improved for nearly all survey questions, often in a statistically significant way, but it was not the case for their enjoyment of collaboration which was reduced by 10% points (p = 0.01) (Table 1). The enjoyment of collaborating with the other professions declined for the physicians (p = 0.01) whereas it improved for the nurses, but it was not statistically significant (p = 0.06). For the nurses, their perception improved across all items, but less often in a statistically significant manner. In general, nurses had higher levels of satisfaction regarding communication and team collaboration (Figure 1). Conclusions: Our study showed that physicians and nurses’ perceptions improved post-interventions. Nurses seemed to be more affected by the interventions. The biggest effect was in decision sharing as both had almost a similar improvement. Promoting communication and collaboration in a complex clinical environment is paramount. Interventions such as multidisciplinary rounds and adapting structured communication tools improve organizational culture.