Satisfaction of intensive care unit nurses with nurse-physician communication.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to determine if specific communication elements contribute to nurses' satisfaction with communication.


BACKGROUND
Little research has focused on communication satisfaction, which may be linked to overall communication effectiveness, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions.


METHODS
Using a nonexperimental, descriptive design, all nurses (N = 866) who worked in 25 intensive care units located in 8 hospitals in Southeast Michigan were anonymously surveyed on their perceptions of registered nurse/doctor of medicine communication and satisfaction with communication.


RESULTS
There were 407 usable surveys. Nurses were more satisfied with open, accurate, and understanding communication (R2 = 0.66). Years of experience in intensive care unit and satisfaction with communication were inversely related (r = -0.10, P = .04). Nurses preferred communicating with attending-level physicians (r = 0.12, P = .02) than with first year residents (r = -0.21, P < .001).


CONCLUSIONS
Although touted as a patient safety tool, the timeliness of communication was not associated with communication satisfaction. Nurses are more satisfied with understanding, open, and accurate communication, especially with attending-level physicians.
Manojlovich
Milisa
M
School of Nursing, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-5482, USA. mmanojlo@umich.edu
Antonakos
Cathy
C
D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003142:Communication; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D005260:Female; D006272:Health Facility Environment / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008297:Male; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology; D008824:Michigan; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D015279:Organizational Culture; D010563:Personnel Turnover; D019555:Physician-Nurse Relations; D011209:Power, Psychological; D012044:Regression Analysis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017132:Workplace / Q000523:psychology