Communicating for Better Care: Improving Nurse and Doctor Communication
Doctor-Nurse Communication
Physicians and nurses have had to interact since nursing became a profession. The act of communication between nurses and physicians is a central activity in health care, and a failure to communicate has been linked with poor quality and patient errors. During the history of nursing, these interactions have been as different as each individual physician and nurse is different. The two professions have had to form relationships to accomplish their common goal: quality patient care (Manojlovich & DeCicco, 2007). The relationships between the professions have changed throughout the years, for the most part; evolving from the traditional “superiority” of the physician/nurse as a “handmaiden” relationship to one of collegial respect between nurse-physician (Schmalenberg & Kramer, 2009). Disruptive communication occurs with alarming frequency in both nurses and physicians, and both sets of professionals agree that such ways of communicating decreases patient safety.
Physician-nurse relationship and communication is something that has drawn interest for some time. In 1967, Stein reported that nurses’ relationships with physicians were based on a “game playing” model, in which nurses gave recommendations regarding care without appearing to direct or disagree with the physician (Sterchi, 2007). By the 1990’s the physician-nurse interactions had evolved into a model in which nurses used informal, overt strategies to involve themselves with physicians in the decision making process. Nurses used negotiation skills to convey their ideas and opinions to physicians, who in turn listened to the nurses (Sterchi, 2007). These changes in relationship increased nurses’ influence on patient-care decisions made by physicians. Miller and Thomas found that physicians perceived there to be higher levels of collaboration between physicians and nurses than did nurses (Sterchi, 2007).
It has also been found that communication between
Physicians and nurses have had to interact since nursing became a profession. The act of communication between nurses and physicians is a central activity in health care, and a failure to communicate has been linked with poor quality and patient errors. During the history of nursing, these interactions have been as different as each individual physician and nurse is different. The two professions have had to form relationships to accomplish their common goal: quality patient care (Manojlovich & DeCicco, 2007). The relationships between the professions have changed throughout the years, for the most part; evolving from the traditional “superiority” of the physician/nurse as a “handmaiden” relationship to one of collegial respect between nurse-physician (Schmalenberg & Kramer, 2009). Disruptive communication occurs with alarming frequency in both nurses and physicians, and both sets of professionals agree that such ways of communicating decreases patient safety.
Physician-nurse relationship and communication is something that has drawn interest for some time. In 1967, Stein reported that nurses’ relationships with physicians were based on a “game playing” model, in which nurses gave recommendations regarding care without appearing to direct or disagree with the physician (Sterchi, 2007). By the 1990’s the physician-nurse interactions had evolved into a model in which nurses used informal, overt strategies to involve themselves with physicians in the decision making process. Nurses used negotiation skills to convey their ideas and opinions to physicians, who in turn listened to the nurses (Sterchi, 2007). These changes in relationship increased nurses’ influence on patient-care decisions made by physicians. Miller and Thomas found that physicians perceived there to be higher levels of collaboration between physicians and nurses than did nurses (Sterchi, 2007).
It has also been found that communication between
References: Manojlovich, M. & DeCicco, B. (2007). Healthy work environments, nurse-physician communication, and patients’ outcomes Polick, T. (2009). How to handle rude doctors at your nursing job. Robinson, F., Gorman, G., Slimmer, L., & Yudkowsky, R. (2010). Perceptions of Effective and ineffective nurse-physician communication in hospitals Rodgers, K. (2007). Using the SBAR communication technique technique to improve nurse-physician phone communication: a pilot study Schmalenberg, C. & Kramer, M. (2009). Nurse-physician relationships in hospitals: 20,000 Nurses tell their story Sirota, T. (2007). Nurse/physician relationships: Improving or not? Nursing 37 (1). Sterchi, L. (2007). Perceptions that affect physician-nurse collaboration in the perioperative setting