ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To describe experiences of uncertainty and management strategies for staff working with families in a hospital waiting room. SETTING: A 288-bed, nonprofit community hospital in a Midwestern city. METHODS: Data were collected during individual, semistructured interviews with 3 volunteers, 3 technical staff members, and 1 circulating nurse (n = 7), and during 40 hours of observation in a surgical waiting room. Interview transcripts were analyzed using constant comparative techniques. RESULTS: The surgical waiting room represents the intersection of several sources of uncertainty that families experience. Findings also illustrate the ways in which staff manage the uncertainty of families in the waiting room by communicating support. CONCLUSIONS: Staff in surgical waiting rooms are responsible for managing family members' uncertainty related to insufficient information. Practically, this study provided some evidence that staff are expected to help manage the uncertainty that is typical in a surgical waiting room, further highlighting the important role of communication in improving family members' experiences.
Subject(s)
Health Personnel/psychology , Perioperative Period/psychology , Professional-Family Relations , Uncertainty , Volunteers/psychology , Attitude of Health Personnel , Communication , Family/psychology , Helping Behavior , Hospitals, Community/organization & administration , Humans , Qualitative Research , Social Support , Surgical Procedures, Operative/psychologyABSTRACT
Data from a survey of physicians in a west coast city (n = 356) are used to measure physicians' extra-occupational sources of dissatisfaction. Data revealed a significant relationship between physicians' satisfaction and their managed care experience, their communication with managed care organizations, and views of managed care practice. Results suggest that managed care currently plays a large and significant role in predicting physicians' satisfaction. The importance of communication between physicians and managed care organizations is illustrated in the strength of the relationships between communication variables and managed care decisions. Furthermore, in assessing the strength of the relationship, regression analysis reveals that communication with managed care accounts for the largest percentage of variance in physicians' satisfaction. The results of this study suggest that communication with managed care organizations affects physicians' satisfaction with every facet of the organizational environment, including leading physicians who report problematic communication with managed care organizations to say that they would be less likely to choose the same career path again.
