Introduction: Interpersonal communication is a part of our everyday life, we communicate with people around us at home, work and in public. Communication can be defined as an exchange, a transmission of information between a sender and the receiver. Communication is an important component of healthcare, whether at primary, secondary or tertiary level.
Purpose: The aim of this diploma thesis is to investigate the importance of appropriate communication between healthcare professionals in the perioperative environment, more precisely in the operating room. Methods: This diploma work is based on a descriptive method of work, namely a review of the literature in the field of nursing and psychology with the help of the following bibliographic databases: Medline, Pubmed and Dikul. The literature reviewed was written in Slovene and English and was fully accessible either electronically or physically in the form of books. Inclusion and exclusion criteria have been
set. Results: Working in the operating room is technically demanding and attention must be paid to patient care, safety, and to following surgical procedures. All eight studies came to the same conclusion, confirming that communication between healthcare professionals in the operating room has a real impact on patient safety and surgical outcome. Several studies have shown differences in the perception of communication between surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurse anesthetists and operating theater nurses. Surgeons rate communication as good, while on the other hand anesthesiologists, nurse anesthetists and
operating theatre nurses rate the same communication as bad. Interventions and instruments to improve quality of communication are mentioned only in a few studies and are described imprecisely. Discussion and conclusion: There is room for improvement, and further research in the area of communication between healthcare professionals in the operating room is needed, especially in the search for appropriate interventions to strengthen interdisciplinary communication.
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