Physician Communication in the Operating Room: Expanding Application of Face Negotiation Theory to the Health Communication Context
Communication variables that are associated with face negotiation theory were examined in a sample of operating room physicians. A survey was administered to anesthesiologists and surgeons at a teaching hospital in the southwestern United States to measure three variables commonly associated with face negotiation theory: conflict management style, face concern, and self construal. The survey instrument that was administered to physicians includes items that measured these three variables in previous face negotiation research with slight modification of item wording for relevance in the medical setting. The physician data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis, Pearson's correlations, and t tests. Results of this initial investigation showed that variables associated with face negotiation theory were evident in the sample physician population. In addition, the correlations were similar among variables in the medical sample as those found in previous face negotiation research. Finally, t tests suggest variance between anesthesiologists and surgeons on specific communication variables. These findings suggest three implications that warrant further investigation with expanded sample size: (1) An intercultural communication theory and instrument can be utilized for health communication research; (2) as applied in a medical context, face negotiation theory can be expanded beyond traditional intercultural communication boundaries; and (3) theoretically based communication structures applied in a medical context could help explain physician miscommunication in the operating room to assist future design of communication training programs for operating room physicians.
Health communication