What organizational structures could be established to lessen the stress caused by conflict?

A patient was admitted to the hospital for a stem cell transplant but seemed to be experiencing all the symptoms of a heart attack. Giving a person the drugs needed to perform a stem cell procedure is very risky if the patient is unstable. An electrocardiogram (EKG) had been recorded for the patient, but the cardiologist had not arrived by the time the oncology team came to see the patient.
The attending physician, an oncologist with a bad temper, was told about the patient’s chest pain, glanced at the EKG, and told the nurse that the readings did not concern him. The nurse faced a dilemma: Should she try to delay the transplant until the cardiologist arrived, or go along with the oncologist?
Nurses are not licensed to order tests or medications, but they are the “final check” on the decisions doctors make for patients. The nurse chose the brave but more stressful option and asked for a delay. In the hallway, the oncologist yelled at her and arrogantly asked her why. To him, she was just a nurse.
Such confrontations increase the stress and tensions for nurses. Physicians hold more power than nurses do, so even if nurses are right, rude treatment by physicians will make them think twice before speaking up in the future. Generally, no structure is in place for nurses to resolve errors made by physicians. Most physicians recognize and correct mistakes if nurses point them out; however, if doctors refuse to change an order, nurses feel pressure to cooperate and implement the order. Even though nurses have a legal obligation to act, failing to implement the order risks the ordering physician’s anger and even possible discipline or termination.