Assessment of Nurse-Laboratory Communication and Its Impact on Timely Diagnosis in Hospital Settings

Abstract

Quality of interprofessional communication affects clinical care in contexts where information must quickly circulate among members of health care teams. In hospitals, nurses communicate with laboratory professionals regarding patient tests which enables timely diagnostic decisions. Timely diagnoses are critical for effective patient management and better clinical outcomes. An assessment of the factors influencing nurse-laboratory communication in a hospital setting provides insights into the barriers and facilitators that characterize existing pathways. A nurse-prepared questionnaire gathers information from laboratory personnel on the perceptions of their field regarding nurse-laboratory communication and its influence on timely diagnoses. The results enable identification of individual-level, interdepartmental, infrastructural, and educational factors that either favour or hinder efficient communication across pathways that link nurses and laboratory personnel. They reveal several barriers and facilitators to timely diagnostic procedures that relate specifically to nurse-laboratory communication. Finally, they document the multifaceted nature of the interprofessional communication that supports timely diagnostic procedures. Such evidence contributes to the rationale for placing greater emphasis on nurse-laboratory communication in efforts to stimulate improvements in the quality of clinical care provided by hospitals.