Perioperative Communication

Abstract

Communication has always been a key aspect of effective perioperative care. Operating departments continually attempt to improve communication between all parties in the perioperative setting, and articles on this subject are common in professional publications. However it is also true that examples of bad communication abound. In one study which examined communication during 48 operative procedures, a total of 421 communication events produced 129 instances of ‘communication failure’ (Lingard et al 2004). Sometimes these failings have severe consequences on the patient, the trust and the practitioner. Lessons in error management drawn from high risk areas of healthcare such as operating theatre practice have been derived from aviation and aircraft incidents. Frequently, errors will have similar root causes. Psychologist Robert L Helmreich has argued that one of the main parallel areas of error generation is flawed communication. He cites his own studies which show that, in one hospital under review, two thirds of doctors and nurses quoted ‘better communication’ as being the most useful way of reducing errors (Helmreich 2000).