Deputed power of medical control: the hidden message in the ritual of oral shift reports

The exchange of oral shift reports between nurses is a prominent part of the everyday routine in a hospital ward. Increased awareness of the more or less explicit functions of such communication is likely to have a positive impact on the nursing profession. Oral shift reports in a nursing care system based on task allocation were therefore observed and analysed. Using an ethnographic approach, reports were tape-recorded, and nurses were...