Communication in healthcare Communication error between healthcare personnel is the most common cause of low quality in care,24 and studies10, 11 have shown that lack of communication causes clinical incidents and adverse events in relation to surgery. Greenberg et al.11 examined 60 malpractice claims due to communication errors in the preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative periods. They found that 92% of errors were verbal communications and 64% occurred between one sender and one receiver. In one study25 using questionnaires in four hospitals in the Netherlands and measuring latent risk factors, 40-50% of personnel in the operating theatre (OT) and in the ICU rated communication as poor.25 In an observational study9 analysing 421 communication events in the OT, communication errors occurred in 30% of team exchanges and one third of these jeopardized patient safety.9 Barriers to nurse-physician communication have also been reported as hierarchy, lack of consistent structure, differences in communication style between the two professions and language.26-28 In an interview study27 with nurses and physicians, they declared that the most important factor for effective communication was straightforward unambiguous communication and that what is being heard or said is accurate.