Nurse-Physician Communication in Long-Term Care: Literature Review.

Over-hospitalization of institutionalized older adults remains a serious concern in the health care industry. Communication failures between nurses and medical providers have been linked to numerous errors, including unnecessary hospitalizations for conditions that could be safely managed in the long-term care setting. Suboptimal communication, especially between nurses and physicians, concerning unstable nursing home residents has been identified as a causative factor for reduced nurse and medical provider satisfaction. Despite the known negative effects of communication failures, little research exists in the nursing home setting that describes the etiology of communication problems or interventions to improve nurse-physician communication. The purpose of the current article is to explore the recent literature as it relates to communication between nurses and medical providers in the long-term care setting. [Journal of Gerontological Nursing, xx(x), xx-xx.].