Effective communication for patient safety

Effective communication is essential for patient safety because many medical errors are related with failure in communication between medical providers. The reason why communication failure occurs can be found in communication block by teamwork malfunction, communication skills that are not trained and standardized, and problems occurring during handoffs. Teamwork malfunction is usually caused by vertical hierarchy and interpersonal conflicts, which interrupts speaking up, expressing concerns, and sharing opinions. Communication skills that are not trained and standardized often result in miscommunication and omission of critical information. Structured and standardized communication techniques such as SBAR (situation-background-assessment-recommendation) should be implemented and developed. Handoff, which moves patient information to other staff, is a highly risky process, which also needs standardization along with implementation of checklists to reduce medical errors.