Let's talk about it: Reframing communication in medical teams. (April 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Angouri, Jo; Mesinioti, Polina; Siassakos, Dimitrios
• Is Part Of: Best practice & research. Volume 80(2022)
• Page Start: 75
• Page End: 91
• Publication Date: 2022-04
• Subjects: Teamwork -- Communication -- Interaction -- Embodiment -- Healthcare sociolinguistics -- Obstetrics; Gynecology -- Periodicals; Obstetrics -- Periodicals; Genital Diseases, Female; Obstetrics; Gynecology; Obstetrics; Periodicals; 618.05
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bpobgyn.2022.01.005
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1521-6934

Abstract

Abstract: Communication is associated with a significant percentage of errors or omissions in secondary healthcare across specialities; it is also the core process in and through which medical teams manage tasks, establish a rhythm and relationship between themselves and the patient, all of which are critical components of clinical practice. Despite this, however, communication is framed in medical training and the literature in either narrow terms or in a broad and fuzzy way, and it is indicative of the issue that teamwork and team communication are perceived and treated separately. In this paper, we draw on completed and ongoing interdisciplinary work to show how teams interact through illustrative examples from a large project on the management of obstetric emergencies. We provide a brief overview of the limitations in current tools and approaches, and we show how research under disciplines that have a long tradition in the analysis of interaction, and particularly healthcare sociolinguistics, can be translated and make a solid contribution to medical research and training. Highlights: Team communication needs to be reconceptualised as team work and reframed based on context-specific clinical evidence. Teams with a high clinical performance follow the same patterns in task management in our data. Healthcare sociolinguistics, a branch of linguistic research, can complement medical research and feed into teamwork training. Positioning in material place is a core and inseparable part of teamwork.