title: Physician communication in the operating room: expanding application of face-negotiation theory to the health communication context.
abstract: Communication variables that are associated with face-negotiation theory were examined in a sample of operating-room physicians. A survey was administered to anesthesiologists and surgeons at a teaching hospital in the southwestern United States to measure three variables commonly associated with face-negotiation theory: conflict-management style, face concern, and self-construal. The survey instrument that was administered to physicians includes items that measured these three variables in previous face-negotiation research with slight modification of item wording for relevance in the medical setting. The physician data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis, Pearson's correlations, and t-tests. Results of this initial investigation showed that variables associated with face-negotiation theory were evident in the sample physician population. In addition, the correlations were similar among variables in the medical sample as those found in previous face-negotiation research. Finally, t-tests suggest variance between anesthesiologists and surgeons on specific communication variables. These findings suggest three implications that warrant further investigation with expanded sample size: (1) An intercultural communication theory and instrument can be utilized for health communication research; (2) as applied in a medical context, face-negotiation theory can be expanded beyond traditional intercultural communication boundaries; and (3) theoretically based communication structures applied in a medical context could help explain physician miscommunication in the operating room to assist future design of communication training programs for operating-room physicians.
authors: School of Communication, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858, USA. kirschbaumk@ecu.edu
authors: Kristin
authors: K
authors: Kirschbaum
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003142:Communication; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017008:Negotiating; D009873:Operating Rooms; D010465:Perception; D010820:Physicians; D014481:United States