Annals of Emergency Medicine
Volume 54, Issue 3 , Pages 379-380 , September 2009

The Medium Is the Message: Communication and Power in Sign-outs

  • Alexandra G. Murphy, PhD

      Affiliations

    • College of Communication, DePaul University, Chicago, IL
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress for correspondence: Alexandra G. Murphy, PhD, College of Communication, DePaul University, 2320 North Kenmore Avenue, Chicago, IL 60614; 773-325-4625, Fax 773-325-7584
    • ,
  • Robert L. Wears, MD, MS

      Affiliations

    • Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Florida Health Science Center–Jacksonville, Jacksonville, FL, and Clinical Safety Research Unit, Imperial College London, London, England

References 

  1. Watzlawick P, Bavelas JB, Jackson DD. Pragmatics of Human Communication: A Study of Interactional Patterns, Pathologies, and Paradoxes. New York, NY: W W Norton; 1967;
  2. Horwitz LI, Parwani V, Shah NR, et al. Implementation and evaluation of an asynchronous physician sign-out for emergency department admissions. Ann Emerg Med. 2009;54:368–378
  3. Fisher R, Ury W, Patton B. Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In. 2nd ed.. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 1991;
  4. Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. 2007 National patient safety goals. http://www.jointcommission.org/PatientSafety/NationalPatientSafetyGoals/08_hap_npsgs.htmAccessed March 4, 2009
  5. Arora V, Johnson J, Lovinger D, et al. Communication failures in patient sign-out and suggestions for improvement: a critical incident analysis. Qual Saf Health Care. 2005;14:401–407
  6. Patterson ES. Structuring flexibility: the potential good, bad and ugly in standardisation of handovers. Qual Saf Health Care. 2008;17:4–5
  7. Weick K. Making Sense of the Organization. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing; 2003;
  8. McIntyre A. After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory. 2nd ed.. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press; 1984;
  9. Fisher WR. Narration as a human communication paradigm: the case of public moral argument. Communication Monographs. 1984;51:1–22
  10. Wears RL, Perry SJ, Shapiro M, et al. Shift Changes Among Emergency Physicians: Best of Times, Worst of Times (Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 47th Annual Meeting: p 1420-1423). Denver, CO: Human Factors and Ergonomics Society; 2003;
  11. Coiera EW. When conversation is better than computation. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2000;7:277–286
  12. Weick KE. Sensemaking in Organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc; 1995;
  13. Barth J. The Sot-Weed Factor. New York, NY: Doubleday; 1960;
  14. Pawson R, Greenhalgh T, Harvey G, et al. Realist review—a new method of systematic review designed for complex policy interventions. J Health Serv Res Policy. 2005;10(suppl 1):21–34
  15. Pawson R, Tilley N. Realistic Evaluation. London, England: Sage Publications, Ltd; 1997;

 Supervising editor: Michael L. Callaham, MD

 Funding and support: By Annals policy, all authors are required to disclose any and all commercial, financial, and other relationships in any way related to the subject of this article that might create any potential conflict of interest. The authors have stated that no such relationships exist. See the Manuscript Submission Agreement in this issue for examples of specific conflicts covered by this statement.

 Publication date: Available online April 11, 2009.

 Reprints not available from the authors.

PII: S0196-0644(09)00246-7

doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2009.03.013

Annals of Emergency Medicine
Volume 54, Issue 3 , Pages 379-380 , September 2009

Article Tools