Examining the relationship between inter-professional teamwork (IPT) and inter-professional collaboration practice (IPCP) among physicians and nurses in university hospitals in Malaysia / Sharifah Naziha Syed Kholed

Today’s health care workers are being asked to work collaboratively among team
members to achieve organizational goal and to deliver good and effective healthcare to
the community. There are numerous health care providers differing expertise working
together in the hospital. In addition, these people must work together to provide excellent
healthcare service to ensure patient satisfaction and improved health. In healthcare
settings, physicians and nurses are known as the most important people closely
interacting with patients. In healthcare practice, inter-professional collaboration practice
(IPCP) requires continuous interaction, coordinated efforts and knowledge sharing among
health care providers. Therefore, it is important to highlight on the relationship of Interprofessional
Teamwork (IPT) and IPCP between physicians and nurses. This study
further examined two research questions. Research Question 1 was to examine the
relationship between inter-professional teamwork (communication, trust, respect,
leadership, empowerment, job resources, and fairness) and inter-professional
collaboration practice. Research Questions 2 was to investigate differences in perception
between physicians and nurses towards IPT and IPCP. A positivist exploratory approach
was used to explore the relationship between variables. Quota sampling technique was
employed with 200 usable data points analyzed using Partial Least Square - Structural
Modelling (PLS-SEM) and SPSS version 22. The findings revealed that the four
hypotheses constructed for Research Question 1 have positive relationships between
constructs, while, the hypotheses for Research Questions 2 showed two significant
differences in perception between physicians and nurses. The findings further extend
current knowledge by examining the relationship and differences in perception of IPT
and IPCP among physicians and nurses in University Hospitals in Malaysia. From a
practical viewpoint, the findings provide information for health care providers to develop
certain strategies to improve health care delivery systems and enhance job satisfaction
among health care workers. Thus, it is hoped that the study can contribute to
improvement of IPT and IPCP between physicians and nurses in Malaysian healthcare
sector.