Information exchanges and information access are at the heart of the daily coordination of care

Errors of communication and delays in information transfer are a source of stress and wasted time for nursing staffs.  They have a major cost for healthcare institutions.

• Communication errors are detected in more than 50 % of medical errors (1)

• Nurses are, in average, interrupted 6,7 times per hour (2)

• Nurses can spend upwards of 2 hours locating other people to get answers and searching for supplies (3)

• Nurses believe that interruptions from management phone calls lead to the highest risk of errors (4)

(1) Sentinel Event Data. Root cause by event type (2004-2012) Report from The Joint Commission

(2) Work Interruptions and Their Contribution to Medication Administration Errors: An Evidence Review - Alain D. Biron RN, Carmen G. Loiselle RN, PhD and Mélanie Lavoie - Tremblay RN, PhD - Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing, Volume 6, Issue 2, pages 70–86, June 2009 

(3) The High Cost of Nurses’ Communication Challenges, Frances Dare, Sep 2009, Cisco survey

(4) Interruptions during nurses’ drug rounds in surgical wards: observational study. Palese A1, Sartor A, Costaperaria G, Bresadola V.J Nurs Manag. 2009 Mar;17(2):185-92