Verbal behavior of the nurse in multidisciplinary team conferences

Nurses are in a position to provide information that is vital to the planning of patient care, but may not make verbal contributions during team conferences for a variety of reasons. This investigator sought to determine if other disciplines were more dominant during team meetings, if nurses refrained from making verbal contributions, if they preferred to be deferential to some or all of the team members, and if nurses expressed a high need for affiliation with some or all of the team members.

Subjects were members of a 10-person multidisciplinary team serving a psychiatric unit in a 350-bed acute care hospital. The investigator studied 10 team conferences over a five-week period, employing two observers who rated each subject on the SYMLOG Adjective Rating Form. Some subjects also completed the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule. The investigator interviewed each of the three nurse subjects individually.

Other disciplines were shown to be more dominant than nurses during team conferences. Nurses acknowledged having refrained from making verbal contributions at times. Three submissive subjects were identified, one of whom was a nurse. Submissive subjects all expressed low preferences for deference, in contrast to their observed behaviors. Measures of affiliation provided inconclusive results. Implications for nursing practice and further research were discussed.