The role of physical design and informal communication

elate to learning and the sharing of information. The GN was often observed asking
the charge nurse questions about how to carry out certain tasks and received informal
training in process. In addition, because the charge nurse could provide patient
information quickly for the busy nurses, “Discussing Patient Care” also occurred
frequently at the charge nurse desk.
Table 10 shows the frequency of task by location when the communication
categories are grouped as “Procedural” (“Administrative,” “Seeking Assistance,”
“Providing Assistance”) and “Knowledge Transfer” (“Being Taught,” “Discussing
Patient Care,” “Validation,” and “Providing Advice”). As Figure 30 shows, nearly
half (45.9%) of “Knowledge Transfer” interactions occurred at the nurses station,
23.6% occurred in the corridor, and 19.6% occurred in the med room. Recall that,
although not reflected in the CWM tool data, much of the “Knowledge Transfer”
interactions reported for the nurses station actually occurred at the charge nurse desk.
Table 10 Frequency of task by location with tasks grouped to emphasize
knowledge transfer
Location
Task MedRoom Charge Desk Corridor Nurses Station
Non-Interactive 33.3 1.1 23.2 29.7
Social 45.0 1.7 28.3 23.3
Procedural 24.2 7.1 32.3 36.4
Knowledge Transfer 19.6 7.8 26.3 45.9
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