Physician‐Nurse Conflict: Lessons from a Clinical Experience

hysician-nurse conflicts can be traumatic experiences damaging to interprofessional relations and patient care. Such conflicts may arise out of P disagreements over clinical or ethical dilemmas and may be more common as nurses become more assertive in their professional interactions with physicians. As nurses’ level of education increases, they are more likely to question or challenge physicians’ judgments. There has been little discussion of serious conflicts between physicians and nurses. Although empirical observation has found relatively high levels of cooperation between the two professions,’ some significant conflicts have been reported.2 Therefore, we think it is worthwhile to consider some causes of physician-nurse conflicts, and to discuss ways in which they may be avoided or resolved.