Inter-professional working in the RAF Critical Care Air Support Team (CCAST)

Summary 

Objective

To understand working relationships between doctors and nurses in the (UK) Royal Air Force (RAF).

Methods

Qualitative, semi-structured interviews.

Sample

Six nurses and five anaesthetists from the RAF Critical Care Air Support Team were interviewed.

Findings

A variety of factors had an effect on inter-professional dynamics between anaesthetists and nurses within CCAST.

Discussion

The military setting makes this relationship different from that which has been observed in the National Health Service (NHS) and reported in the literature. An area which had not been analysed before in terms of doctor–nurse relationships debate is the issue of personality. This research shows it to be a significant issue in this relationship, for both groups of professionals.

Keywords: Flight nursing, Inter-professional working, Doctor–nurse relations, Military nursing