Failures in communication through documents and documentation across the perioperative pathway

Abstract

Aims and objectives: To explore how communication failures occur in documents and documentations across the perioperative pathway in nurses' interactions with other nurses, surgeons and anaesthetists. Background: Documents and documentation are used to communicate vital patient and procedural information among nurses, and in nurses' interactions with surgeons and anaesthetists, across the perioperative pathway. Previous research indicates that communication failure regularly occurs in the perioperative setting. Design: A qualitative study was undertaken. Methods: The study was conducted over three hospitals in Melbourne, Australia. One hundred and twenty-five healthcare professionals from th..