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Understanding communication networks in the emergency department
Nerida Creswick1, Johanna I Westbrook, Jeffrey Braithwaite
1Health Informatics Research and Evaluation Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Sydney, Australia. nerida.creswick@sydney.edu.au
BMC Health Services Research
|January 2, 2010
Summary
Emergency department (ED) staff collaborate most within their professional groups. Problem-solving networks are dense, while socialising networks are loose, impacting care quality and communication.
Area of Science:
- Healthcare Management
- Organizational Behavior
- Social Network Analysis
Background:
- Emergency departments (EDs) are high-pressure environments where effective staff communication and cooperation are crucial for patient care quality.
- Interactions among ED staff are complex, involving various professional roles and organizational structures.
- This study investigates the social networks within an Australian hospital ED to understand staff interactions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the problem-solving, medication advice-seeking, and socialising networks among ED staff.
- To analyze the structure and characteristics of these social networks.
- To identify key individuals and communication patterns within the ED.
Main Methods:
- A social network survey was administered to 109 ED staff members, achieving a 94% response rate.
- Network analysis techniques were employed, including density, connectedness, isolates, degree centrality (in-degree and out-degree), betweenness centrality, degree of separation, and reciprocity.
- Data were collected from doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, administrative staff, and ward assistants.
Main Results:
- Staff members exhibited stronger connections within their own professional groups across all three networks (problem-solving, medication advice, socialising).
- The problem-solving network was the most densely connected, followed by the medication advice network, and then the socialising network.
- Specific senior doctors and a senior nurse emerged as key sources for medication advice, indicating reliance on certain individuals for critical information.
Conclusions:
- Network analysis offers valuable insights into the social and professional structures within clinical settings like EDs.
- Understanding these networks can help improve communication, cooperation, and ultimately, the quality of care provided by ED staff.
- The findings can inform ED leaders, policymakers, and researchers on optimizing team dynamics and support systems.
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