Exploring the concept of nurse-physician communication within the context of health care outcomes using the evolutionary method of concept analysis.

Nurse-physician communication in nursing and medicine and its relationship to health care outcomes have been studied, but there is an absence of a concept analysis using the evolutionary method. This article (1) explores the meaning of nurse-physician communication within the context of health care outcomes using the process for concept analysis proposed by Rodgers; (2) aims to clarify the concept's definition, surrogate and related terms, attributes and antecedents; (3) provides a clearer understanding of what the consequences of the concept are; and (4) suggests an operational definition. A clearer conceptualization is needed to help provide knowledge for nurses, thus guiding their practice and also theory and research.