Physician behaviors associated with increased physician and nurse communication during bedside interdisciplinary rounds.
Interdisciplinary rounds have been shown to improve patient outcomes such as shorter length of stay. In this study, more than 1,000 interdisciplinary rounds were observed to assess the extent and timing of physician-nurse communication. Results show attending physicians had longer interaction times with nurses than did residents or interns. Attendings were also more likely to elicit nurses' concerns rather than waiting for nurses to bring them up. These findings show the importance of including attendings in bedside rounds and medical schools could stress the importance of interdisciplinary rounds and teamwork.