lost in translation: communication between nurses and physicians

Despite increasing male enrollments in nursing schools, approximately 94% of nurses in the United States are women. 94%... talk about a female dominated profession. Come on guys!
Issues such as gender differnces in communication patterns and stereotypical gender roles are major problems facing us nurses in practice.
Professionally throughout history, female nurses have been assigned the gender stereotypical roles of "healer, caretaker, and nurturer." Although this is currently being challenged and is changing... it still remains complicated by gender differences, which are often misinterpreted as professional differences. These differences impair communication, which is detrimental to the health care field; most importantly patient care.

Being able to share information with a health care team and form common goals is vital for effective client care and job satisfaction.
Two Important Things:
1) Identify the most appropriate mode of communication ( written communication rather than verbal, formal/informal).
Learn the preferred method of communication of a physician, we can lessen the probability of a misunderstanding.
Remember, written orders are preferred over verbal orders because there is less room for error.
2) Immediately report a significant change in client status to the admitting physician.
However, before contacting the physician do thorough assessments and gather all necessary information. Be prepared to refresh the physicians memory, and have an identified possible courses of action. Don't call and say Mr. So and So is going down hill without the facts (numbers/labs) in order to support your thought.


A nursing shortage is plaguing the United States and continues to worsen as the country's population ages (ah yes, the greying of America). Effective communication and collaboration between physicians and nurses is essential. By improving inter-professional communication, trust and mutual respect may be formed and strengthened, which increases a professional's ability to perform high quality health care.

Talk to each other. We all care and we all need to work together. Talk!