The operating room charge nurse: coordinator and communicator.

To achieve the potential inherent in the use of computer applications in distributed environments, we need to understand the information needs of users. The purpose of this descriptive study was to document the communication of an operating room charge nurse to inform the design of technological communication applications for operating room coordination. A data collection tool was developed to record: 1) the purpose of the communication, 2) mode of communication, 3) the target individual, and 4) the length of time taken for each occurrence. The chosen data collection categories provided a functional structure for data collection and analysis involving communication. Study findings are discussed within the context of application design.