Do Objective Measures of Communication Predict Clinical Performance? – Application in Acute Care Trauma Simulation

Abstract

Effective communication in healthcare is critical for effective patient care. This study explored communication in an acute care team simulation where medical students were asked to perform as the physician in charge to manage pre-and post-operative patients. Students’ speech was analyzed to determine differences according to communication receiver (i.e., student to nurse, student to patient). Statistical analyses revealed that speech ratio, speech intensity, and number of questions students asked to the nurse or patient were significantly different between communication receivers (p<0.05). Furthermore, communications initiated by student to nurse contributed 34% of the total time, and 31% from student to patient. Lastly, students spoke 3% higher volume to patient than to nurse, 20% more questions were asked to nurse than to patient. Findings indicated an overall positive relationship between measured audio variables and performance.