The Hidden Risks of Miscommunication in Healthcare

Clear communication is extremely important in the healthcare environment. When doctors, nurses, technicians and other staff misunderstand details that get relayed about a patient’s care, serious and sometimes fatal mistakes can follow. In this article, we look at some of the subtle ways communication failures endanger patient safety every day inside clinics and hospitals.

Dropped Details During Handoff

Clinical providers depend on effective handoffs as they transfer responsibility of patients between shifts or service teams. A night nurse needs full context from the previous nurse to prioritize what to monitor and address first and specialists consulting from the ER doctor require broad history to offer appropriate treatment suggestions over the phone. Suboptimal handoffs breed confusion.

For example, while verbally presenting a trauma patient’s condition during a nursing shift change, one RN neglects to mention the high blood pressure recorded earlier. So the incoming RN omits to administer those medications from their tasks, allowing pressure to keep rising unchecked. Any care details that get lost in discussion translation or omitted from reference jeopardize patients.

Incomplete Patient-Provider Exchanges

Likewise, when patients poorly articulate chief complaints or medical history during visits, physician understanding suffers. Language barriers, cultural differences in describing symptoms, and simple unfamiliarity with one’s own conditions prevent robust information exchange.

So perhaps a parent brings their toddler to the pediatrician with concerns about breathing issues but neglects to mention day care peer chickenpox infections. Without considering that reference, the doctor pursues entirely different diagnostics for what seems isolated respiratory distress. Gaps impede optimal care planning.

Telephone/Virtual Misinterpretations

With rising popularity of telemedicine, risks grow for nuance getting lost when doctors and nurses cannot directly see or touch patients. Over a fuzzy video or phone call, it becomes easier to downplay symptoms like rashes, edema or pain levels when unable to visualize their true extent in-person. Electronic mediums carry a greater risk of miscommunication dismissal.

Equally, clinicians struggle to read tenor and emotions during virtual visits. Does a trembling lower lip mean anxiety or pain? The people at Med Abbrev explain that without observing body language in totality, assessments weaken and calls dropping mid-sentence obviously distort relayed medical references between remote parties.

Unsecure Messaging Confusion

Understaffed hospital units frequently use unsecure communication methods likes texts or emails between doctors and nurses but messaging apps carry more room for confusion than direct conversation. If an ER doctor texts a specialty physician an abbreviated summary of a complex case needing input but uses unclear shorthand or leaves out pieces, consultation advice suffers.

References and recommendations passed along insecure platforms degrade without full context and simultaneous similar patient load texts heighten misinterpretation risk. Clinical advice depends on clear, complete communication.

Uncoordinated Documentation Hurts

Finally, inconsistent documentation practices between doctors, nurses and other staff can complicate information sharing enormously. When providers use non-standard abbreviations or shorthand variably, records turn confusing. Lacking notation consensus muddles subsequent clinical decision-making.

For example, Doctor A’s reference to “IV fluids” meaning intravenous saline differs from Nurse B defaulting “IV fluids” to heparin drip totals. Such conflicts decoding medical chart notations, medication names, and symptom shorthand can cause dangerous care coordination issues for patients. Establishing unified terminology and notation conventions optimizes clear communication through records.

Conclusion

Managing patient care across teams, facilities and technologies leaves ample room for confusion, distortions and accidental omission of data. Dropped details during handoffs, incomplete patient storytelling, virtual visit struggles reading body language, and insecure textual miscommunications all contribute. Healthcare teams must vigilantly verify understanding to combat subtle communication failure risks jeopardizing safety every day. Double checking references makes care safer.