Communication practices among nurses in the acute care setting. (October 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Tschannen, Dana; Schoville, Rhonda; Schmidt, Patricia; Buehler, Kathryn; Borst, Sarah; Flaherty-Robb, Marna
• Is Part Of: Journal of communication in healthcare. Volume 6:Number 3(2013)
• Page Start: 171
• Page End: 179
• Publication Date: 2013-10
• Subjects: Team communication -- Nursing workflow -- Acute care setting; Communication in medicine -- Periodicals; Communication -- Periodicals; Health promotion -- Periodicals; 610.696
• DOI: 10.1179/1753807613Y.0000000037
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1753-8068

Abstract

Abstract : Aim: To describe and quantify nursing communication practices in the in-patient setting. Background: Strategies aimed at improving communication among the healthcare team have resulted in marginal improvements, which may in part be due to the limited time the team communicates with one another. Method: Nurses ( n = 12) on three different types of units were observed to determine time spent in synchronous communication with the healthcare team. Results: Total communication time, on average, was 2.85 hours (23.8%) of a 12-hour shift, with nurse–physician communication (11.3 minutes) and nurse-assistive personnel (8.5 minutes) accounting for a small part of time. Differences in time communicating with physicians were noted between the intensive care unit and the pediatric unit. Time spent in communication with unlicensed assistive personnel was 9.6 minutes in the intensive care unit, 14.1 minutes in the adult unit, and only 1.8 minutes in the pediatric unit. Conclusion: Strategies must be identified that will either maximize time spent in communication or provide more opportunities for communication to occur. Administrators must reinforce the need for communication and initiate opportunities for engagement among the team. They must role model the importance of communicating with all members of the healthcare team, as well as instill the importance of time spent in communication.