Milisa Manojlovich

Hiding in plain sight: Communication theory in implementation science

BackgroundPoor communication among healthcare professionals is a pressing problem, contributing to widespread barriers to patient safety. The word “communication” means to share or make common. In the literature, two communication paradigms dominate: (1) communication as a transactional process responsible for information exchange, and (2) communication as a transformational process responsible for causing change. Implementation science has focused on information exchange attributes while largely ignoring transformational attributes of communication. In this paper, we debate the merits of encompassing both paradigms.DiscussionWe conducted a two-staged literature review searching for the concept of communication in implementation science to understand how communication is conceptualized. Twenty-seven theories, models, or frameworks were identified; only Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovations theory provides a definition of communication and includes both communication paradigms. Most models (notable exceptions include Diffusion of Innovations, The Ottawa Model of Research Use, and Normalization Process Theory) describe communication as a transactional process. But thinking of communication solely as information transfer or exchange misrepresents reality. We recommend that implementation science theories (1) propose and test the concept of shared understanding when describing communication, (2) acknowledge that communication is multi-layered, identify at least a few layers, and posit how identified layers might affect the development of shared understanding, (3) acknowledge that communication occurs in a social context, providing a frame of reference for both individuals and groups, (4) acknowledge the unpredictability of communication (and healthcare processes in general), and (5) engage with and draw on work done by communication theorists.SummaryImplementation science literature has conceptualized communication as a transactional process (when communication has been mentioned at all), thereby ignoring a key contributor to implementation intervention success. When conceptualized as a transformational process, the focus of communication moves to shared understanding and is grounded in human interactions and the way we go about constructing knowledge. Instead of hiding in plain sight, we suggest explicitly acknowledging the role that communication plays in our implementation efforts. By using both paradigms, we can investigate when communication facilitates implementation, when it does not, and how to improve it so that our implementation and clinical interventions are embraced by clinicians and patients alike.

Jordanian Nursing Work Environments, Intent to Stay, and Job Satisfaction

PURPOSEnThe purpose of this study was to examine associations among the nursing work environment, nurse job satisfaction, and intent to stay for nurses who practice in hospitals in Jordan.nnnDESIGNnA quantitative descriptive cross-sectional survey design was used.nnnMETHODSnData were collected through survey questionnaires distributed to 650 registered nurses (RNs) who worked in three hospitals in Jordan. The self-report questionnaire consisted of three instruments and demographic questions. The instruments were the Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index (PES-NWI), the McCain Intent to Stay scale, and Quinn and Shepards (1974) Global Job Satisfaction survey. Descriptive statistics were calculated for discrete measures of demographic characteristics of the study participants. Multivariate linear regression models were used to explore relationships among the nursing work environment, job satisfaction, and intent to stay, adjusting for unit type.nnnFINDINGSnThere was a positive association between nurses job satisfaction and the nursing work environment (t = 6.42, p < .001). For each one-unit increase in the total score of the PES-NWI, nurses average job satisfaction increased by 1.3 points, controlling for other factors. Overall, nurses employed in public hospitals were more satisfied than those working in teaching hospitals. The nursing work environment was positively associated with nurses intent to stay (t = 4.83, p < .001). The Intent to Stay score increased by 3.6 points for every one-unit increase in the total PES-NWI score on average. The highest Intent to Stay scores were reported by nurses from public hospitals.nnnCONCLUSIONSnThe work environment was positively associated with nurses intent to stay and job satisfaction. More attention should be paid to create positive work environments to increase job satisfaction for nurses and increase their intent to stay.nnnCLINICAL RELEVANCEnHospital and nurse managers and healthcare policymakers urgently need to create satisfactory work environments supporting nursing practice in order to increase nurses job satisfaction and intent to stay.

The Effect of Health Information Technology on Health Care Provider Communication: A Mixed-Method Protocol.

Background Communication failures between physicians and nurses are one of the most common causes of adverse events for hospitalized patients, as well as a major root cause of all sentinel events. Communication technology (ie, the electronic medical record, computerized provider order entry, email, and pagers), which is a component of health information technology (HIT), may help reduce some communication failures but increase others because of an inadequate understanding of how communication technology is used. Increasing use of health information and communication technologies is likely to affect communication between nurses and physicians. Objective The purpose of this study is to describe, in detail, how health information and communication technologies facilitate or hinder communication between nurses and physicians with the ultimate goal of identifying how we can optimize the use of these technologies to support effective communication. Effective communication is the process of developing shared understanding between communicators by establishing, testing, and maintaining relationships. Our theoretical model, based in communication and sociology theories, describes how health information and communication technologies affect communication through communication practices (ie, use of rich media; the location and availability of computers) and work relationships (ie, hierarchies and team stability). Therefore we seek to (1) identify the range of health information and communication technologies used in a national sample of medical-surgical acute care units, (2) describe communication practices and work relationships that may be influenced by health information and communication technologies in these same settings, and (3) explore how differences in health information and communication technologies, communication practices, and work relationships between physicians and nurses influence communication. Methods This 4-year study uses a sequential mixed-methods design, beginning with a quantitative survey followed by a two-part qualitative phase. Survey results from aim 1 will provide a detailed assessment of health information and communication technologies in use and help identify sites with variation in health information and communication technologies for the qualitative phase of the study. In aim 2, we will conduct telephone interviews with hospital personnel in up to 8 hospitals to gather in-depth information about communication practices and work relationships on medical-surgical units. In aim 3, we will collect data in 4 hospitals (selected from telephone interview results) via observation, shadowing, focus groups, and artifacts to learn how health information and communication technologies, communication practices, and work relationships affect communication. Results Results from aim 1 will be published in 2016. Results from aims 2 and 3 will be published in subsequent years. Conclusions As the majority of US hospitals do not yet have HIT fully implemented, results from our study will inform future development and implementation of health information and communication technologies to support effective communication between nurses and physicians.

The critical care nurse work environment, physician staffing, and risk for ventilator-associated pneumonia.

We examined the relationship between intensivist physician staffing, nurse work environment, and ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in 25 intensive care units. We found a significant interaction between the nurse work environment, intensivist physician staffing, and VAP. Future work may need to focus on fostering organizational collaboration between nursing and medicine to leverage skills of both clinician groups to reduce risk for VAP in critically ill patients.

A Systematic Review of the Unintended Consequences of Clinical Interventions to Reduce Adverse Outcomes.

Abstract This is a systematic review of the literature on unintended consequences of clinical interventions to reduce falls, catheter-related urinary tract infection, and vascular catheter-related infections in hospitalized patients. A systematic search of the literature was conducted in CINAHL and PubMed. We developed a screening tool and a two-stage screening process to identify relevant articles. Nine articles met inclusion criteria, and of those, 8 reported on interventions to reduce patient falls. Four studies reported a positive, unexpected benefit; 3 studies reported a negative, unexpected detriment; and 4 reported a perverse effect (different from what was expected). Three studies reported both positive and perverse effects arising from the intervention. In 4 of the studies, despite fall prevention interventions, patients fell while trying to get to the bathroom, suggesting that interventions to reduce one adverse outcome (i.e., CAUTI) may be associated with another outcome (i.e., patient falls). In some cases, there were positive outcomes for those who implemented and/or evaluated interventions. We encourage colleagues to collect and report data on possible unintended consequences of their interventions to allow a fuller picture of the relationship between intervention and all outcomes to emerge.

ICU team composition and its association with ABCDE implementation in a quality collaborative

Purpose: Awakening, Breathing Coordination, Delirium, and Early Mobility bundle (ABCDE) should involve an interprofessional team, yet no studies describe what team composition supports implementation. Materials & methods: We administered a survey at MHA Keystone Center ICU 2015 workshop. We measured team composition by the frequency of nurse, respiratory therapist, physician, physical therapist, nurse practitioner/physician assistant or nursing assistant involvement in 1) spontaneous awakening trials (SATs), 2) spontaneous breathing trials, 3) delirium and 4) early mobility. We assessed ABCDE implementation using a 5‐point Likert (“routine part of every patients care” ‐ “no plans to implement”). We used ordinal logistic regression to examine team composition and ABCDE implementation, adjusting for confounders and clustering. Results: From 293 surveys (75% response rate), we found that frequent nurse [OR 6.1 (1.1–34.9)] and physician involvement [OR 4.2 (1.3–13.4)] in SATs, nurse [OR 4.7 (1.6–13.4)] and nursing assistants involvement [OR 3.9 (1.2–13.5)] in delirium and nurse [OR 2.8 (1.2–6.7)], physician [OR (3.6 (1.2–10.3)], and nursing assistants involvement [OR 2.3 (1.1–4.8)] in early mobility were significantly associated with higher odds of routine ABCDE implementation. Conclusions: ABCDE implementation was associated with frequent involvement of team members, suggesting a need for role articulation and coordination. HighlightsThis is the first paper to examine ICU team composition and ABCDE implementation.We find variation in how frequently each team member is involved in ABCDE.Some team members are perceived to be more involved in some activities than others.These data suggest a need for role clarification and complex coordination.ICUs with high levels of ABCDE may create teams that work from shared mental models.

Use of Unit-Based Interventions to Improve the Quality of Care for Hospitalized Medical Patients: A National Survey

BACKGROUNDnRecent publications have drawn attention to interventions to redesign aspects of care delivery for hospitalized medical patients, including localization of physicians to specific units, nurse-physician co-leadership, interdisciplinary rounds (IDR), and access to quality performance data. Use of these interventions across hospitals has not been previously described.nnnMETHODSnA cross-sectional survey of internal medicine (IM) residency program directors and hospital medicine group (HMG) leaders in the United States was conducted to characterize use of unit-based interventions on inpatient medical services. The survey served as a pilot study to assess the use of localization of physicians to specific units, nurse-physician co-leadership, IDR, and access to quality performance data.nnnRESULTSnNinety-four IM program directors (response rate, 23.3%) and 62 HMG leaders (response rate, 20.7%) responded. No single intervention was used by the vast majority of sites, and the extent and intensity of use varied. About a quarter of respondents indicated that physicians typically cared for patients on only one to two units, a third or fewer had unit co-leadership on at least half of hospital units, fewer than half had daily IDR, and approximately half had access to unit-level performance data. Most IM programs and hospitalist groups had implemented 0 to 1 interventions to a high degree of fidelity, and few (≤u20095%) had implemented all 4.nnnCONCLUSIONnIM program directors and HMG leaders reported variation in use of unit-based interventions to improve quality of care for medical inpatients. Future research should evaluate the association of the degree and intensity of using unit-based interventions on patient outcomes.

Communication With Physicians as a Mediator in the Relationship Between the Nursing Work Environment and Select Nurse Outcomes in Jordan

PURPOSEnTo test whether communication mediated relationships among nurses work environments and nurse outcomes of job satisfaction and intent to stay.nnnDESIGNnThis study used a cross-sectional, quantitative survey design to query 650 nurses who worked in three hospitals in Jordan.nnnMETHODSnWe used Arabic versions of valid, reliable instruments measuring the nursing work environment, nurse perceptions of communication with physicians, intent to stay, and job satisfaction. Mediation analysis was used to test hypotheses.nnnFINDINGSnA total of 582 questionnaires were returned (89.5% response rate). Nurse perceptions of communication with physicians mediated the relationship between the nursing work environment and job satisfaction in medical, surgical, and critical care units. Nurse perceptions of communication with physicians mediated the relationship between the nursing work environment and intent to stay in all but maternity and other units.nnnCONCLUSIONSnDepending on the nurse outcome, communication was a significant mediator for various unit types. These results may be related to the type of work that is done in each unit and the influence of patient care. Communication is one of many mechanisms that can specify how a positive nursing work environment can contribute to nurses job satisfaction and intent to stay.nnnCLINICAL RELEVANCEnA potential solution to the nursing shortage in Jordan emerges by identifying communication with physicians as a mediator in the relationship between the work environment and selected nurse outcomes.

Mind the overlap: how system problems contribute to cognitive failure and diagnostic errors

Abstract Background Traditionally, research has examined systems- and cognitive-based sources of diagnostic error as individual entities. However, half of all errors have origins in both domains. Methods We conducted a focused ethnography of inpatient physicians at two academic institutions to understand how systems-based problems contribute to cognitive errors in diagnosis. Medicine teams were observed on rounds and during post-round work after which interviews were conducted. Field notes related to the diagnostic process and the work system were recorded, and findings were organized into themes. Using deductive content analysis, themes were categorized based on a published taxonomy to link systems-based contributions and cognitive errors such as faulty data gathering, information processing, data verification and errors associated with multiple domains. Results Observations, focus groups and interviews of 10 teams were conducted between January 2016 and April 2017. The following themes were identified: (1) challenges with interdisciplinary communication and communication within the electronic medical record (EMR) contributed to faulty data gathering; (2) organizational structures such as the operation of consulting services in silos promoted faulty information processing; (3) care handoffs led to faulty data verification and (4) interruptions, time constraints and a cluttered physical environment negatively influenced multiple cognitive domains. Conclusions Systems-based factors often facilitate and promote cognitive problems in diagnosis. Linking systems-based contributions to downstream cognitive impacts and intervening on both in tandem may help prevent diagnostic errors.

Formative evaluation of the video reflexive ethnography method, as applied to the physician–nurse dyad

Background Despite decades of research and interventions, poor communication between physicians and nurses continues to be a primary contributor to adverse events in the hospital setting and a major challenge to improving patient safety. The lack of progress suggests that it is time to consider alternative approaches with greater potential to identify and improve communication than those used to date. We conducted a formative evaluation to assess the feasibility, acceptability and utility of using video reflexive ethnography (VRE) to examine, and potentially improve, communication between nurses and physicians. Methods We begin with a brief description of the institutional review boardapproval process and recruitment activities, then explain how we conducted the formative evaluation by describing (1) the VRE process itself; (2) our assessment of the exposure to the VRE process; and (3) challenges encountered and lessons learnt as a result of the process, along with suggestions for change. Results Our formative evaluation demonstrates that it is feasible and acceptable to video-record communication between physicians and nurses during patient care rounds across many units at a large, academic medical centre. The lessons that we learnt helped to identify procedural changes for future projects. We also discuss the broader application of this methodology as a possible strategy for improving other important quality and safety practices in healthcare settings. Conclusions The VRE process did generate increased reflection in both nurse and physician participants. Moreover, VRE has utility in assessing communication and, based on the comments of our participants, can serve as an intervention to possibly improve communication, with implications for patient safety.