Emergency communication: The discursive challenges facing emergency clinicians and patients in hospital emergency departments

Slade, D; Scheeres, H; Manidis, M; Iedema, R; Dunston, R; Stein-Parbury, J; Matthiessen, C; Herke, M; McGregor, J

Emergency communication: The discursive challenges facing emergency clinicians and patients in hospital emergency departments

Slade, D

Scheeres, H Manidis, M

Iedema, R

Dunston, R Stein-Parbury, J

Matthiessen, C Herke, M McGregor, J

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Discourse and Communication, 2008, 2 (3), pp. 271 - 298
Issue Date:: 2008-08-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Slade, D https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6143-5989	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Scheeres, H	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Manidis, M https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3723-0956	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Iedema, R https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6792-1048	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Dunston, R	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Stein-Parbury, J https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0018-3236	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Matthiessen, C	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Herke, M	en_US
dc.contributor.author	McGregor, J	en_US
dc.date.issued	2008-08-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Discourse and Communication, 2008, 2 (3), pp. 271 - 298	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	1750-4813	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/10608
dc.description.abstract	Effective communication and interpersonal skills have long been recognized as fundamental to the delivery of quality health care. However, there is mounting evidence that the pressures of communication in high stress work areas such as hospital emergency departments (EDs) present particular challenges to the delivery of quality care. A recent report on incident management in the Australian health care system (NSW Health, 2005a) cites the main cause of critical incidents (that is, adverse events such as an incorrect procedure leading to patient harm), as being poor and inadequate communication between clinicians and patients. This article presents research that describes and analyses spoken interactions between health care practitioners and patients in one ED of a large, public teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia. The research aimed to address the challenges and critical incidents caused by breakdowns in communication that occur between health practitioners and patients and by refining and extending knowledge of discourse structures, to identify ways in which health care practitioners can enhance their communicative practices thereby improving the quality of the patient journey through the ED. The research used a qualitative ethnographic approach combined with discourse analysis of audio-recorded interactions. Some key findings from the analysis of data are outlined including how the absence of information about processes, the pressure of time within the ED, divergent goals of clinicians and patients, the delivery of diagnoses and professional roles impact on patient experiences. Finally, the article presents an in-depth linguistic analysis on interpersonal and experiential patterns in the discursive practices of patients, nurses and doctors. © 2008 SAGE Publications.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Discourse and Communication	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1177/1750481308091910	en_US
dc.title	Emergency communication: The discursive challenges facing emergency clinicians and patients in hospital emergency departments	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	3	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	2	en_US
utslib.for	2001 Communication and Media Studies	en_US
utslib.for	1702 Cognitive Sciences	en_US
utslib.for	2004 Linguistics	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences/School of Communication
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences/School of International Studies
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - CHSP - Health Services and Practice
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.issue	3	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	2	en_US

Abstract:

Effective communication and interpersonal skills have long been recognized as fundamental to the delivery of quality health care. However, there is mounting evidence that the pressures of communication in high stress work areas such as hospital emergency departments (EDs) present particular challenges to the delivery of quality care. A recent report on incident management in the Australian health care system (NSW Health, 2005a) cites the main cause of critical incidents (that is, adverse events such as an incorrect procedure leading to patient harm), as being poor and inadequate communication between clinicians and patients. This article presents research that describes and analyses spoken interactions between health care practitioners and patients in one ED of a large, public teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia. The research aimed to address the challenges and critical incidents caused by breakdowns in communication that occur between health practitioners and patients and by refining and extending knowledge of discourse structures, to identify ways in which health care practitioners can enhance their communicative practices thereby improving the quality of the patient journey through the ED. The research used a qualitative ethnographic approach combined with discourse analysis of audio-recorded interactions. Some key findings from the analysis of data are outlined including how the absence of information about processes, the pressure of time within the ED, divergent goals of clinicians and patients, the delivery of diagnoses and professional roles impact on patient experiences. Finally, the article presents an in-depth linguistic analysis on interpersonal and experiential patterns in the discursive practices of patients, nurses and doctors. © 2008 SAGE Publications.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/10608