Investigating the Semantic Similarities across Physician and Nurse Handoff Communication

Abstract

In this paper, we report on an exploratory investigation of the semantic similarities between physician and nurse handoff communication in clinical settings. Based on our analysis of verbal handoffs of residents and nurses (265 patient handoffs each; total 530) using natural language processing techniques, we found that there are inherent similarities in the nature of content that is exchanged within these disciplinary handoffs. However, the consistency of the clinical content across all handoffs and their order of presentation were less predictable. We briefly discuss the potential implications of our results that can inform evidence-based guidelines for the design of an interdisciplinary handoff framework.

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