Physician and nurse satisfaction with the MD/RN Collaborative has increased overall in the last year, according to the latest satisfaction survey, but there is still room for improvement, says Christopher Ng, M.D., who is co-chair of the MD/RN Collaborative with Peachy Hain, RN.

"We've reviewed the results of the survey and identified areas of concern shared by both physicians and nurses," Ng said. "We've recently given our findings to unit nurse managers so they can start creating tests-of-change related to the top two to three issues."

Among the standouts that physicians and nurses identified as issues and/or recommended action items were:

• Communicating the plan of care (MD to RN)
• Discussing orders before leaving the unit
• Coordination of care (MD to MD)
• Need for regular Unit Collaborative monthly meetings
• RN/MD patient rounds
• Mutual respect
• Increased cell phone usage (RN)

Encouraging Data

The survey questions were re-designed this year to assess the impact of recent initiatives, including SBAR (Situation, Background, Recommendation, Assessment). Results showed encouraging data regarding SBAR preparedness, according to Ng. One of the highest response rates (4.61 out of a top score of 5) was for the MD question: "I am comfortable receiving recommendations from the nurses."

"We found that the vast majority of physicians are prepared to receive recommendations from nurses as part of the SBAR initiative," he said. "We didn't think it would be a top response, and we were pleasantly surprised to find that MDs are engaged in using SBAR."

"Interestingly, physicians appear to be more satisfied with the degree of collaboration than the nurses, across the board," Ng said. "The overwhelming majority of our nursing colleagues are calling for better communication of the plan of care from the MDs and for improved MD-to-MD coordination of patient care. This should be a goal for the Medical Staff for the next year."

Of the 1,450 responses received, 484 were from physicians, representing a 56 percent increase over 2005. The number of nurses who responded also increased by 17 percent.

"I would like to say 'thanks' again to all of the physicians who participated in the survey," Ng added. "We had a great response and appreciate the time that many physicians took to write their comments."

For more information about the 2006 MD/RN Satisfaction Survey, please call Dr. Ng at (310) 423-4700.