Team Players: The RN’s Role in Communication and Collaboration

Nursing is not a solo act. It’s a team effort. At the center of patient care, Registered Nurses (RNs) serve as the link between doctors, specialists, support staff, patients, and families. Communication and collaboration are essential to ensuring safe, coordinated, and effective care. Whether during hospital rounds, care transitions, or emergency interventions, RNs are the glue holding the care team together.

In this post, we’ll explore how RNs excel in communication, advocate for patients, and foster collaboration across disciplines.

Why Communication Is Central to Nursing

Effective communication is more than charting and reporting. It’s about:

Ensuring Patient Safety: Poor communication is one of the leading causes of medical errors. RNs help prevent errors by verifying orders, clarifying concerns, and reporting changes in patient condition quickly.
Coordinating Multidisciplinary Care: Patients often see multiple providers. Nurses make sure all the moving parts, from physical therapy to discharge planning, work in unison.
Building Trust with Patients and Families: Nurses listen, educate, and guide. Their calm and clear communication helps patients feel informed and supported.
Reducing Stress and Burnout: Clear communication among staff promotes smoother workflows, reduces confusion, and improves morale on the unit.

The RN as a Collaborator: Key Roles and Scenarios

1. Communicating with Physicians and Providers

RNs serve as the eyes and ears of the care team:

SBAR Framework: Nurses often use the SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation) model to deliver concise, structured updates. For example, “The patient’s oxygen dropped to 88% on room air, and they’re using accessory muscles to breathe.”
Real-Time Condition Updates: RNs notify providers when vital signs shift, medications aren’t tolerated, or test results are abnormal, ensuring swift intervention.
Clarifying Orders: When a treatment doesn’t seem right, nurses advocate for clarification. This kind of assertive communication protects patient safety and reduces errors.

2. Interdisciplinary Team Rounds

Team rounds are where collaboration comes to life:

Active Participation: Nurses contribute crucial information about the patient’s status, concerns, or readiness for discharge.
Coordinated Planning: RNs work with social workers, pharmacists, physical therapists, and case managers to align care goals and troubleshoot barriers to recovery.
Discharge Readiness: Nurses often lead the conversation about whether a patient can safely go home and what support they’ll need.

Effective rounding boosts communication, aligns the team, and improves outcomes including lower readmission rates.

3. Patient and Family Communication

Nurses spend the most time with patients and families. Their role includes:

Translating Medical Jargon: Nurses simplify complex terminology into understandable language, helping patients make informed decisions.
Emotional Support: In times of uncertainty or grief, nurses offer comfort, validation, and clarity.
Cultural Sensitivity: RNs tailor communication to honor cultural values and preferences, using interpreters or visual aids when necessary.
Facilitating Goals-of-Care Conversations: While doctors may lead these discussions, nurses often help patients explore their values beforehand and reinforce choices afterward.

4. Shift Handoffs and Intra-Team Communication

Smooth transitions between nursing shifts are crucial:

Bedside Reporting: Handoff occurs in front of the patient, where both nurses and the patient participate, improving transparency and trust.
Checklists and Standardized Tools: Many hospitals use tools like I-PASS or electronic reports to ensure nothing falls through the cracks.
Nurse-to-Nurse Collaboration: Nurses rely on each other throughout shifts to lift patients, troubleshoot technology, brainstorm care plans, or offer emotional support.

The ability to communicate clearly, respectfully, and consistently enhances both patient care and workplace culture.

Overcoming Communication Barriers

Even skilled communicators face challenges. RNs are trained to recognize and navigate barriers such as:

Time Constraints: Nurses learn to prioritize urgent updates and use structured tools for clarity under pressure.
Emotional Situations: During emergencies or high-stress moments, nurses stay calm and centered while delivering and receiving critical information.
Hierarchical Dynamics: Nurses advocate with professionalism, even in systems where hierarchy may make it intimidating to question orders.
Language or Sensory Impairments: Nurses use interpreters, visuals, written materials, or alternative communication devices to ensure patients are heard and understood.

References:

The Joint Commission. (2022). Advancing patient-provider communication and activating patients. https://www.jointcommission.org/resources/news-and-multimedia/newsletters/newsletters/quick-safety/quick-safety-issue-29-advancing-patientprovider-communication-and-activating-patients/
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). (2024). Team STEPPS Fundamentals. https://www.ahrq.gov/teamstepps-program/index.html

Take a deeper dive with CE Ready’s course, Communication in Healthcare.