Nurse Communication in
the Health Care Team
Nurses are central figures in the health care team, and as
the most consistent health care providers at the patient
bedside, their responsibilities to connect the often disparate
medical and ancillary professionals who make up the
team have been heightened (American Association of
Colleges of Nursing [AACN], 2002). Now, more than
ever, nurses’ communication skill set must extend beyond
traditional interactions with patients to the team context,
where nurses are expected to build team morale and relationships,
coordinate team tasks to facilitate care, and
promote joint decision making (Wade, 1999).
Although extant research suggests that nurse communication
improves health care team processes (AACN,
2002), less is known about how nurse discourse contributes
to team performance in ways that enhance patient
outcomes. Of note, there remains a lack of exploration
of specific communication behaviors that nurses use
in their team roles that ultimately might be linked to
patient results. Consequently, the goal of the current
study was to examine critical team communication
processes and identify forms of nurse–team communication
that comprise these processes and are perceived
to improve patient outcomes. The following research
question was posited to guide this research: What are
the communication practices nurses employ with team
members to enhance the likelihood of successful patient
outcomes?