In this blog, Dr Zarnigar Khan talks through why she thinks nurses are the biggest allies for newly qualified doctors, as well as how to forge relationships with them.
One of the most important skills required by doctors is working as part of a multidisciplinary team (MDT) to improve patient care, experience and outcomes. Therefore, it’s essential to maintain a positive working relationship with members of the MDT, of which nurses form a large part.
Navigating these relationships in the workplace can be dauting when starting your foundation years, especially due to the rotational nature of medical training.
In spite of this, I have always found it mutually beneficial to work on building positive relationships with our nursing colleagues, as well as gaining some good friends along the way.
Starting rotation
At the beginning of each rotation there will be a lot of information to take in – from the intricacies of the specialism itself to the inner workings of the department.
It’s important to recognise that for non-rotating members of staff, the influx of completely new people can be disorientating and may result in some friction in those first few days.
However, many of the more experienced nurses will have a wealth of knowledge about the department and the way that it runs, so taking the time to learn from them can really help to ease you into the job of foundation doctor.
It also helps them get to know you, which can be invaluable when the going gets tough.
Shifting responsibilities
When developing working relationships, it’s helpful to understand the different roles you’ll hold as a doctor within one specialty. For example, you may complete many shift types, including on-call clerking, daily ward cover or out-of-hours cover.
You may also be covering different subspecialities within the department on different days. For example, in my current job, I can be the stroke clerking doctor, acute neurology clerking doctor, ward cover doctor or ward day doctor.
To make things even more confusing, my night shifts cover surgery. This information is not communicated to the nursing team. So, it may be disorientating for them to have you there one day looking after certain patients, and the next a different set. The same can be said for nurses who may be looking after different patients from day to day.
With these changing responsibilities, you may be asked to help with the care of a patient you’re not looking after that day. This in itself can be difficult to navigate when building relationships, but being aware of the change in dynamic (and the other person’s understanding of it) can help you approach the task in a way that maintains good relationships.
Good communication
Despite these tricky dynamics, it’s important to note that this is not personal to an individual. They simply exist due to the structure of rotational training. These are also barriers we can overcome with good communication and an understanding of one another’s jobs, workloads and priorities.
The main benefit of this is the synergistic working relationship that contributes to better care and outcomes for patients. Good communication and understanding of roles allows you to hone your skills to deliver safe and efficient care for patients.
How to build good communication and relationships
Here are some simple things I did to proactively form better relationships:
- Chatting with nursing staff during board round
- Updating nursing staff with plans after seeing patients
- Asking if there are any concerns, either personal or patient
- Taking lunch breaks in the staff room with the nurses
- Sharing my concerns openly
Doing some or all of these things can bring about better working relationships, which have the advantage of boosting team morale and creating a happier work environment. It has certainly worked for me.
I’ve forged really good working relationships with nursing staff during my rotations. It’s made me feel more comfortable at work and supported within my team. I’ve also found that having a good relationship with my colleagues has improved my wellbeing at work. It has allowed me to debrief with the nursing staff when difficult situations arise.
Finally, working closely with the nurses and having an understanding of their role has also changed my practice, allowing me to see alternative non-clinical needs that patients might share with nurses and not doctors. This has enabled me to care for my patients more holistically.