Stakeholders’ Perceptions of How Nurse–Doctor Communication Impacts Patient Care: A Concept Mapping Study

There is some evidence that aspects of nurse–doctor communication are associated with the quality of care and treatment patients receive whilst they are in hospital. To date, no studies have examined stakeholder perceptions on how patient care is influenced by clinical communication between nurses and doctors. We conducted a concept mapping study to generate a deep understanding of how clinical communication impacts patient care. Concept mapping has six phases: preparation, idea generation, structuring, representation, interpretation, and utilization. A total of 20 patients, 21 nurses, and 21 doctors participated in the study. Brainstorming generated 69 discreet statements about how nurse–doctor communication impacts patient care. The structuring (rating and clustering) phase was completed by 48 participants. The data interpretation workshop selected a five-cluster solution: effective communication, trust, patient safety, impediments to patient care, and interpersonal skills. On the final concept map, the five clusters were arranged in a circle around the center of the map. Clusters were relatively equal in size, suggesting that each concept makes a broadly equal contribution to how nurse–doctor communication influences patient care. Our study suggests that there are multiple aspects of clinical communication that impact patient care. Candidate interventions to enhance nurse–doctor communication may need to consider the complex nature of interprofessional working. Registration: This study was prospectively registered with the Open Science Framework (OSF) on 09.07.2020 (osf.io/9np8v/) prior to recruiting the first participant.