In our culture, when it comes to immense status differences between people who work closely together, relations between doctors and nurses are probably comparable only to those between commissioned officers and ordinary soldiers.

I'm pretty sure it's more complicated than that. My impression is that experienced nurses can generate some clout, and that (if I can believe Heinlein) experienced sergeants can have influence over new lieutenants. This is informal, and dependent both on the ability of the subordinate to be firm without seeming to upset the hierarchy and the receptiveness of the person who's theoretically in charge.

Does anyone have actual information?