Interprofessional Communication in Healthcare Teams

Sultan Pınar ÇETİNTEPEa , Fatma BOZDAĞa

aGazi University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Public Health, Ankara, Türkiye

ABSTRACT
The health sector is a large sector that requires the cooperation of different professionals working together. To ensure co-operation, communication within and between teams should be ensured. Effective and efficient communication increases interprofessional working and positive patient outcomes. Some barriers may occur during communication between professions, which may be caused by the person, technology, or environment. People not knowing or respecting what the other professional’s job is, thinking that there is a hierarchy between professions, gender differences, lack of education, noisy working environment, and not knowing how to use written communication tools can be communication barriers. Inadequate communication between healthcare professionals leads to undesirable results and delayed treatment in patients. To prevent these situations, standardised communication tools have been developed and used in health institutions. Determining communication barriers in institutions and conducting studies on the causes, providing, and updating communication training will ensure that health professionals work in harmony within the team.
Keywords: Communication; interdisciplinary communication; risk management

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