ABSTRACT
This chapter describes nurse–doctor relationship together with the communication tactics that nurses used to make their narratives known to doctors. Doctors had the role of intervention in the health and healing process. These responsibilities translated into contemporary nursing practice as a care management role with responsibilities for regulating a safe clinical environment through the oversight of health and safety arrangements, such as the ordering, maintenance and safe use of clinical equipment and the storage and disposal of hazardous substances and clinical waste. The nurse–doctor relationship varied from good to poor, with some doctors being regarded as ‘likeable’ because they acknowledged nurses’ views. Some female staff attempted to influence medical decisions by flirting with and flattering doctors. This was a deliberate ploy that went beyond normal social niceties such as including a doctor in a staff tea break on the ward.
