title: Meeting the complex needs of the health care team: identification of nurse-team communication practices perceived to enhance patient outcomes.
abstract: Nurses occupy a central position in today's increasingly collaborative health care teams that place a premium on quality patient care. In this study we examined critical team processes and identified specific nurse-team communication practices that were perceived by team members to enhance patient outcomes. Fifty patient-care team members were interviewed to uncover forms of nurse communication perceived to improve team performance. Using a grounded theory approach and constant comparative analysis, study findings reveal two critical processes nurses contribute to as the most central and consistent members of the health care team: ensuring quality decisions and promoting a synergistic team. Moreover, the findings reveal 15 specific nurse-team communication practices that comprise these processes, and thereby are theorized to improve patient outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Western Michigan University School ofCommunication, Kalamazoo, Michigan 49008-5318, USA. kathy.propp@wmich.edu
authors.forename: Kathleen M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Propp
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Apker
authors.forename: Wendy S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Zabava Ford
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wallace
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Serbenski
authors.forename: Nancee
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hofmeister
mesh_terms: D015400:Clinical Nursing Research / Q000379:methods; D003142:Communication; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006126:Group Processes; D006739:Hospital Administration; D006745:Hospital Bed Capacity, 300 to 499; D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D008297:Male; D009726:Nurses; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D016896:Treatment Outcome