This book challenges functional models for more aesthetic and ethical
models, where communication is grounded in values systems of cultures.
Here, communication is treated as a distributed phenomenon involving
networks of persons, activities and artifacts, and extends beyond
doctor-patient relationships to working in and across teams around
patients. The purpose of the book is to stimulate thinking about how
patient care and safety may be improved through a focus upon the
'non-technical' work of doctors - interpersonal communication, teamwork
and situation awareness in teams. The focus is then not on the
personality of the doctor, but on the dynamics of relationships which
form doctors' multiple identities.