Using a team-centered approach to evaluate effectiveness of nurse-physician communications

Area of Science:

• Healthcare communication
• Perinatal care
• Team dynamics

Background:

• Effective communication is crucial in high-stakes environments like labor and delivery.
• Understanding communication patterns between nurses and physicians is vital for optimizing perinatal decision-making.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize the communication strategies employed by labor and delivery nurses and physicians during perinatal decision-making.
• To evaluate the extent to which team-centered communication is utilized.

Main Methods:

• Quantitative descriptive design utilizing discourse analysis of audio-taped conversations.
• Framework based on team communication models from cockpit crew research.
• Participants included 29 perinatal nurses and 11 attending physicians in an urban acute care facility.

Main Results:

• Nurses and physicians predominantly used status-based communication styles.
• Team-centered communication strategies were rarely observed.
• Hierarchical communication patterns were evident in perinatal decision-making discussions.

Conclusions:

• Status-based communication between nurses and physicians may impede optimal patient outcomes in perinatal care.
• Interventions promoting team-centered communication could enhance collaboration and patient safety.
• Further research is needed to explore strategies for mitigating the impact of hierarchical communication.