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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Ibnosina Journal of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences 2013; 05(03): 148-156
DOI: 10.4103/1947-489X.210538
Article

Anesthesiologist-surgeon conflicts at the workplace: An exploratory single-center study from Egypt

Ragaa El-Masry
1   College of Medicine, Public Health Department, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt
,
Tarek Shams
2   College of Medicine, Department of anesthesia and ICU, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt
,
Hamed Al-Wadani
3   College of Medicine, Surgery Department, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
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Background: Professional relationships, in particular between anesthesiologists and surgeons, have been identified as a major source of conflict at the work place. Aims: We explored some of the perceived causes of conflict between the surgeons and anesthesiologists in a single center in Egypt. Method: A cross-sectional study of 67 anesthesiologists and 50 surgeons at Mansoura University Hospital, Mansoura, Egypt was conducted between March and June 2011. A self-reported questionnaire explored 4 domains including 24 items covering causes of conflict. Results: There was a highly significant difference between the number of anesthesiologists and surgeons who considered the working relationships between them as disturbed (76.6% vs. 13.3%, p <0.001 respectively). The most powerful significant predictors of conflicts between surgeons and anesthesiologists were: patient pressure on surgeons, lack of regard to anesthesiologists' instructions, patients' unawareness of the role of anesthesiologists, poor information about patients, decision about the urgency of operations, lack of departmental coordination regarding surgical priorities, lack of an out-patient anesthesia clinic and finally shortage of work facilities. Conclusions: We identified some causes that were perceived by participants to trigger conflicts between them. Attention to these issues may help bring about more harmony between surgeons and anesthesiologists at the work place.

Key-words:

Conflicts - Surgeon - Anesthesiologist - Exploration - Egyptian - Hospital.


Publication History

Received: 05 November 2012

Accepted: 03 December 2012

Article published online:
07 July 2022

© 2013. The Libyan Authority of Scientific Research and Technologyand the Libyan Biotechnology Research Center. All rights reserved. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License,permitting copying and reproductionso long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, oradapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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