Cooperation and conflict in intra‐hospital transfers: A qualitative analysis

• Main Authors: Hayley D. Germack (Author), Renee Fekieta (Author), Meredith Campbell Britton (Author), Shelli L. Feder (Author), Alana Rosenberg (Author), Sarwat I. Chaudhry (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Wiley, 2020-03-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 2054-1058; 10.1002/nop2.434
• Keywords: care transfers; intra‐hospital transfers; multidisciplinary; qualitative study; quality improvement; Nursing; RT1-120
• Source: Nursing Open, Vol 7, Iss 2, Pp 634-641 (2020)

Abstract Aim The purpose of this study was to explore the latent conditions of cooperation and conflict in intra‐hospital patient transfers (i.e. transfers of patients between units in a hospital). Design Secondary qualitative analysis of 28 interviews conducted with 29 hospital staff, including physicians (N = 13), nurses (N = 10) and support staff (N = 6) from a single, large academic tertiary hospital in the Northeastern United States. Methods A two‐member multidisciplinary team applied a directed content analysis approach to data collected from semi‐structured interviews. Results Three recurrent themes were generated: (a) patient flow policies created imbalances of power; (b) relationships were helpful to facilitate safe transfers; and (c) method of admission order communication was a source of disagreement. Hospital quality improvement efforts could benefit from a teaming approach to minimize unintentional power imbalances and optimize communicative relationships between units.