Others reported that having physician
champions on quality improvement
projects is helpful because they can exert
peer pressure to solicit participation
and compliance from other physicians.
Additionally, physician champions are
particularly effective in providing nurses
the support they need to confront a physician
when the nurse sees “something that
flies in the face against what’s right, like
a physician not washing their hands.” As
a hospital CEO stated, “Giving someone
permission to enforce compliance and
them feeling comfortable doing it are two
different things.” Physician and nurse
champions help ease this tension.
Several respondents said that hospitals’
employment of physicians, rather than
relying on voluntary, community-based,
physicians, helps to not only generate physician
buy in, but to also create physician
champions. When physicians and nurses
are both employed, they tend to face