New Horizons in Patient Safety: Safe Communication

Communication science lessons for patient safety and quality care

“…Communication is successful if it results in a shared understanding between clinicians and with patients. 1,2 Successful communication is essential for the delivery of safe and high-quality care. 1–4 It enables positive health outcomes, increases satisfaction, reduces clinician stress, and enhances immunological resilience.…”

“…1,2 Successful communication is essential for the delivery of safe and high-quality care. 1–4 It enables positive health outcomes, increases satisfaction, reduces clinician stress, and enhances immunological resilience. 5–8 Unsuccessful communication, on the other hand, contributes to medical errors 9 and places patients’ health at significant risk.…”

“…10–12 Even after an adverse outcome, it increases the propensity of patients to sue for medical malpractice. 13 Because interpersonal communication is such a major source of vulnerability, error, and risk in healthcare delivery, 1,2,4 it is increasingly recognized as an essential skill for good practice in medicine and nursing. 1,2,14…”

The mind of an academic, the voice of a patient: My field experience with safe communication

“…We have written about the danger of this game of “telephone” in our books. 2,3 Therefore, I was familiar with this challenge and felt confident that I could correct this information more effectively, by interrupting the physicians briefly to make sure that the sensation was recorded correctly now.…”

“…It does not constitute or replace communication skills. Skills, like the ones we defined as “safe communication” in our scientific work, 2–4 are a prerequisite for mnemonic tools like SBAR to work safely and effectively.…”