Evidence and practice

Enhancing communication within nursing and multiprofessional healthcare teams

Kay Norman Principal lecturer, head of teaching excellence, Three Counties School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Worcester, Worcester, England

Why you should read this article:

• To recognise the factors that may be affecting communication within your team
• To be aware of how interpersonal relationships and organisational culture can affect team communication and performance
• To consider strategies that you could use in your practice to enhance communication with your colleagues

Effective communication within nursing and multiprofessional healthcare teams is essential to promote patient safety. However, communication is a complex concept comprising various elements and variables that affect how messages are delivered, received and interpreted. In this article, the author explores communication within healthcare teams and provides some insight into the factors that affect team communication, such as interpersonal relationships. The author also explores organisational culture and cultural sensitivity, and discusses some evidence-based approaches to enhancing communication within healthcare teams.

Nursing Standard. doi: 10.7748/ns.2024.e12270

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software

@DrKayNorman

Correspondence

k.norman@worc.ac.uk

Conflict of interest

None declared

Norman K (2024) Enhancing communication within nursing and multiprofessional healthcare teams. Nursing Standard. doi: 10.7748/ns.2024.e12270

Published online: 04 March 2024

Keywords :

communication - culture - diversity - multidisciplinary teams - organisational culture - patient safety - patients - professional - professional issues - teamwork