Communication in the resuscitation room

Abstract: The emergency nurse specialist provides advanced nursing care to critically ill patients in the emergency care setting. The resuscitation room at the emergency department is where critically ill patients are treated and cared for. It is fundamental for nurses to create an opportunity for patients to participate in their given care. Person centered care sees the person as an individual and requires nurses to work from the individual's need, and not only as a person with a medical condition. Including the patient in clinical decisions and making them a part of the team is vital for person centered care. Communication with the nurse specialist, patient and family is a necessary prerequisite for person centered care. Poor communication amounts to almost 70 percent of deviation rapports. Standardised means of communication amongst healthcare staff have been put in place to reduce these risks. The use of closed loop communication can have significant reductions in errors made when caring for critically ill patients. The aim of the study was to observe communication in the resuscitation room.  The study used a quantitative research design. Ten real-time observations were conducted at a tertiary teaching hospital in Stockholm, Sweden. Two observers were present in the resuscitation room using an observational sheet to document communication.  Closed loop communication was not seen to be used by all healthcare staff and was found to be dependent on the team working. Communication with the patient was the highest overall documented speech in the resuscitation room, which could suggest good patient participation.  The results show predominantly positive amounts of time spent communicating with the patient. Whereas closed loop communication was used equally as much as non-closed loop communication.