Physician Communication in the Operating Room: Expanding Application of Face-Negotiation Theory to the Health Communication Context

Abstract

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.