Expanding nurses' authority – Physicians' and nurses' attitudes

Aim: To examine and compare the attitudes of physicians and registered nurses regarding extending nurses' authority. Design: This was a comparative quantitative study, which used a questionnaire that examined the attitudes of nurses and physicians regarding expanding nurses' authority. Methods: The study comprised a sample of 134 nurses (62.7%) and physicians (37.3%), who filled out the self-report questionnaire that included sociodemographic data and questions designed to examine the participants' attitudes and perceptions on expanding nurses' authority. The general reliability of the questionnaire was Cronbach's α = 0.931. Participants were sampled through the convenience-snowball method. Results: Differences were found between the attitudes of physicians and nurses to expanding nurses' authority. Nurses tended to be in favor, whereas physicians tended to be against (t(86.29) = 7.713; p < 0.05). Nurses' attitudes are also more positive specifically to procedures related to drug administration (t(132) = 6.894; p < 0.05) and resuscitation (t(132) = 2.974; p < 0.05), compared to physicians. Conclusions: Nurses have more positive attitudes toward expanding nurses' authority than physicians do, specifically toward drug administration and resuscitation. Further study is proposed to identify factors which affect the physician-nurse relationship and attitudes on a large scale through a qualitative study.