Nurses' perspective on interprofessional communication on an intensive care unit

The aim of this qualitative study was to explore experience in nurses' interdisciplinary/interprofessional communication on an intensive care unit. The structure of communication and influencing factors were shown and interpreted from the perspective of the nurses. Nurses working on an internal medical intensive care unit at a teaching facility in central Germany were questioned by means of semi-structured interviews. One main result was that for nurses the culture of communication in the investigation unit was characterized primarily by hierarchical structures imposed by the physicians. This dominance was identified in all nursing activities resulting in a considerable adverse effect on the flow of information concerning the patient between nurses and physicians. Especially within the context of daily rounds nurses were confronted with barriers to participate actively with their knowledge and professional competence in the process of decision-making. The problems described are well known in everyday nursing practice and have been dealt with in the English research literature. However, this study's aim is to present and summarize the gained insights and to transfer them in a practice-oriented way into a selected field of work. Possible solutions for the problems of inter-professional communication are suggested in subsequent work steps in order to optimize patient care.