Table 6 Doctor-nurse game: interprofessional boundary disputes

Participants mentioned ongoing problems with peripheral intravenous cannula (PIVC) insertions by junior doctors that had contributed to a high Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia rate. A recently introduced PIVC policy included that: wards provide trolleys stocked with all necessary equipment; date and time of insertion be documented in the patient’s record; and cannulas be replaced after 72 h if still required. MDD4 reported interns’ complaints that: a) nurses often called them, to replace cannulas after hours, having removed them exactly 72 h after insertion (Table 3:13); b) many wards did not have properly stocked trolleys (although NUM1 claimed interns refused to use his ward’s trolleys); nurses claimed to be too busy to complete the documentation.