ABSTRACT
THE focus of this research is nurses’ communication in the “inappropriate-order” situation—an episode in which the nurse believes a physician’s order is not in the patient’s best interest. The situation itself seems to put the nurse in a “bind,” a term described by Bavelas (1983) and Bavelas and Smith (1982):
caught between two or more incompatible aspects of the situation, and furthermore, still required to communicate (Bavelas, 1983, p. 132)
an avoidance-avoidance conflict, in which two unappealing choices repel the individual, who will leave the field if possible—in this case, communicationally, by evasive or indirect communication (Bavelas & Smith, 1982, pp. 138–139)
