Improving Healthcare Team Communication

Book excerpt: Communications research in aviation is widely regarded by many in the healthcare community as the 'gold standard' that should be emulated. Yet healthcare and aviation differ in many ways, as do the vital communications shared among members of clinical teams. Aviation team communication should, then, be understood in terms of what lessons will benefit those who work in healthcare. This book reports on recent field research to address what is known, and what needs to be learned, about team communication among operators.