Nurse–Physician Communication in Patient Care and Associated Factors in Public Hospitals of Harari Regional State and Dire-Dawa City Administration, Eastern Ethiopia: A Multicenter-Mixed Methods Study

BACKGROUND: Nurse–physician communication remains a public health challenge in the health care setting of developing countries. Clear and respectful nurse–physician communication is very crucial for the health of the patients. Numerous studies have shown that inter-professional communication gaps are the leading cause of adverse medical events that compromise the quality of patient care in the clinical setting. Although it has negative consequences and wider effects on patient care, nurse–physician communication in patient care is rarely studied in Africa. In eastern Ethiopia, predictors of nurse–physician communication in patient care have not been studied. Therefore, this study was aimed to assess nurse–physician communication in patient care in public hospitals of Harari Regional State and Dire-Dawa city administration, Eastern Ethiopia. METHODS: The multicenter-mixed methods (a quantitative cross-sectional and phenomenological qualitative) were conducted from March 07 to April 07, 2019 in public Hospitals of Eastern Ethiopia. A total of 440 nurses and physicians working in public hospitals in the Harari Regional State and Dire-Dawa administration were enrolled in the study. Participants were approached through a simple random sampling technique. Data were collected using a pretested, self-administered questionnaire and entered into Epi-Data version 3.1, and exported to STATA software (version SE 14) for further analysis. Descriptive statistics were carried out using frequency tables, proportions, and summary measures. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was carried out to identify the true effects of the selected predictor variables on the outcome variable after controlling for possible confounders. Statistical significance was declared at p-value <0.05. Qualitative data were collected from 10 key informants using a semi-structured questionnaire and analyzed using statistical software, Open Code (version 4.2) by thematic analysis method. RESULTS: Overall, the magnitude of the level of nurse–physician communication in patient care was found to be 53.2% [95% CI (48.9–58.0)]. In the final model of multivariable analysis, being in the age group of 31–40 [(AOR=0.42, 95% CI (0.25–0.72)], ever married nurse or physician [(AOR=2.28, 95% CI(1.41–3.69)], being a nurse professional [AOR=2.36, 95% CI (1.23–4.54)], a salary class of 2250–3562ETB [(AOR=0.25, 95% CI (0.08–0.84)], higher score for organizational related factors [(AOR=0.58, 95% CI (0.36–0.92)], and higher score for work-related attitude behaviors [(AOR=0.62, 95% CI(0.39–0.984)] were factors independently associated with the poor level of nurse–physician communication in patient care. In the qualitative findings, unattractive working environments and negative attitudes of professionals were found to be barriers to nurse–physician communication in patient care. CONCLUSION: In this study, the nurse–physician communication in patient care was relatively low because more than half of the level of nurse–physician communication was found to be poor. Increasing in age, getting a lower monthly salary, higher report for work-related attitude, and organizational related factors were the potential predictors that would decrease the good level of nurse–physician communication in patient care. This result provides cue due attention to improving nurse–physician communication in patient care through various techniques.