Communication failure: basic components, contributing factors, and the call for structure.
BACKGROUND
Communication is a taken-for-granted human activity that is recognized as important once it has failed. Communication failures are a major contributor to adverse events in health care.
The components and processes of communication converge in an intricate manner, creating opportunities for misunderstanding along the way. When a patient's safety is at risk, providers should speak up (that is, initiate a message) to draw attention to the situation before harm is caused. They should also clearly explain (encode) and understand (decode) each other's diagnosis and recommendations to ensure well coordinated delivery of care.
Beyond basic dyadic communication exchanges, an intricate web of individual, group, and organizational factors--more specifically, cognitive workload, implicit assumptions, authority gradients, diffusion of responsibility, and transitions of care--complicate communication.
More structured and explicitly designed forms of communication have been recommended to reduce ambiguity, enhance clarity, and send an unequivocal signal, when needed, that a different action is required. Read-backs, Situation-Background-Assessment-Recommendation, critical assertions, briefings, and debriefings are seeing increasing use in health care. CODA: Although structured forms of communication have good potential to enhance clarity, they are not fail-safe. Providers need to be sensitive to unexpected consequences regarding their use.
Dayton
Elizabeth
E
Department of Sociology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA. edayton@jhu.edu
Henriksen
Kerm
K
D003142:Communication; D006298:Health Services Administration; D006801:Humans; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000379:methods*