Confirmation and disconfirmation in nurse/physician communication

Abstract

This research used a confirmation/disconfirmation framework to analyze communication in nurse‐physician dyads in an attempt to better understand the quality of these inter‐professional relationships. Nurses and physicians were found to be primarily confirming (87%) in their interactions. No differences were found in confirmation proportions between nurses and physicians nor between men and womem. The implications of these findings and the limitations of the laboratory setting are discussed.