Communication issues for the interdisciplinary community palliative care team

Abstract

This paper discusses the findings of a critical study that examined the communication patterns between nurses and general practitioners (GPs) providing palliative care in Australia. Interviews and focus groups involved 40 palliative care nurses who worked in the three settings of care: community, hospice and hospital. Issues that impeded effective communication strategies between palliative care nurses and GPs were networking, case management, multiple service providers, lack of standardized documentation and formal tracking of clients, along with difficulties in transmission of relevant practice knowledge. Supporting strategies for effective formal modes of communicating and reporting are described.

“Pain talk” in hospice and palliative care team meetings: An ethnography

“…Similarly in studies using self-report data nurses highlight the importance of clinical credibility (Willard 2004) and expertise in symptom relief and communication Street and Blackford, 2001). I next turn to a theory of reputation which informs this article.…”

“…The research literature identifies conflict between and across specialist and non-pain specialist services in palliative care Street and Blackford 2001;Katz et al, 1999). Areas of conflict concern professional 'know how', in pain and symptom management and the credibility and expertise of individual practitioners (Arber 2004;Li and Arber 2006).…”

Evaluating multidisciplinary health care teams: taking the crisis out of CRM

“…9 Communication within teams requires not just the delivery of information but also receipt and comprehension of the interchange. 19 Therefore teams need to share a common language and philosophy of care, 20 which becomes increasingly more complex as the multidisciplinary team Quality and Safety Interventions expands. More broadly, collaborative relationships require a mutual valuing of each other' s contribution, the recognition of separate and combined spheres of responsibility, and a focus on shared goals.…”

“…32 Where multidisciplinary teams are unable to meet regularly face-to-face, patients, families and health care providers endure increased communication demands. 20 This is exacerbated in ward-based teams where much of the clinical work is performed in isolation from other members of the team.…”

“…20 For a team to work effectively, individual members need to understand the contribution of each member and how and why they practise as they do. 33 This source of conflict is exacerbated in ward teams where the distribution of work is less clear and role ambiguity more likely.…”