title: Case study: when the nurse and physician don't agree.
abstract: Nurses and physicians by virtue of their roles as health care professionals must work together to provide care for their patients. Decisions regarding life support and death and dying are made almost daily in most intensive care units. Conflicts frequently arise among health care providers when decisions of this nature are made. Nurses and physicians, despite having similar value systems, operate under a different frame of reference. Understanding the differences and how they play themselves out in the clinical setting can alleviate much of the stress and frustration common when these issues are encountered. This article examines the value systems and perspectives of nurses and physicians using a case study format.
authors.affiliation: UCLA Center for the Health Sciences, USA.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Caswell
authors.forename: H G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Cryer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003142:Communication; D003422:Critical Care; D004993:Ethics, Nursing; D005066:Euthanasia, Passive; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D018447:Medical Futility; D009104:Multiple Trauma / Q000451:nursing* / Q000601:surgery; D009720:Nurse Clinicians; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D009746:Nursing, Team; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000451:nursing* / Q000601:surgery; D014948:Wounds, Gunshot / Q000451:nursing* / Q000601:surgery