Abstract

Purpose: To present necessary data for improvement in communications between health professionals in as characterized by nurses' communications. Methods: This study was a descriptive survey research design with a survey of 1,510 registered nurses working in general hospitals (of at least 1,900 beds) in Seoul. A questionnaire on communication in the ICU, nurse-physician and nurse-nurse, was used. Data were collected from January 9 to 20, 2012, and the response rate was 85.0%. Results: Cronbach ${\alpha}$ values ranged from .75 to .89, except for .59 for accuracy (nurse-physician), with .89 overall. The highest mean score was for perception for timeliness [$3.83{\pm}.57$], followed by shift communication (nurse-nurse) [$3.64{\pm}.66$], openness (nurse-nurse) [$3.64{\pm}.65$], accuracy (nurse-nurse) [$3.14{\pm}.61$], openness (nurse-physician) [$2.90{\pm}.75$], understanding (nurse-physician) [$2.82{\pm}.65$], and accuracy (nurse-physician) [$2.70{\pm}.59$]. Subscales of openness, understanding, and shift communication were strongly associated with communication satisfaction. The general characteristics of nurses with different perceptions of communications included age, clinical experience, work pattern, and department. Conclusion: Proactive activities to improve accuracy, openness and mutual understanding between physicians and nurses are required for patient safety. Further studies are also needed to reassess communications and evaluate the relationship between patient outcomes and nurses' job satisfaction after application of strategies to improve communications.

Keywords

• Communication;
• Nurse;
• Physician-nurse relations

• 의사소통;
• 간호사;
• 간호사와 의사의 관계;