The nursing profession is changing, the medical profession is changing, the professional job market is changing, and hospitals are changing. So it should come as no surprise to anyone that nurse-physician relations are also undergoing considerable changes these days. And although the relationship between hospital nurses and physicians has been a topic of ongoing concern for hospital executives for years, only recently has its improvement become an action item. Experts say a number of factors have brought new opportunity to the quest: the push for cost containment, the rising acuity of patients, continuing nursing shortages, societal and workplace changes, and, most of all, the drive toward systemwide quality in hospitals.