The hospital has established a nursing work team to develop a new system for delivering shift reports information. Which line of communication will be used for most of this team's work?

Question

1. Upward
2. Downward
3. Lateral
4. Diagonal

Answer 1

3
Explanation: 1. There will likely be some upward communication as reports are made to superiors, but this is not the major line of communication that will be used.
2. There will be downward communication as the team receives its charge, but this is not the major line of communication that will be used.
3. While all four lines of communication will likely be used in this work, the majority will be between staff members that are in the same or similar hierarchical levels. This is the definition of lateral communication.
4. There may be some diagonal communication if the team works with staff members that are from different hierarchical levels, but this will not be the major line of communication used.