Anne M. Nicotera

Anne M. Nicotera

Anne M. Nicotera

Professor

Health communication, nursing communication, communicative/interactive constitution of organization, race and gender, diversity, and culture and organizations

Anne Maydan Nicotera (PhD, Ohio University) is a Professor in the Department of Communication at George Mason University, where she teaches courses in organizational and interpersonal communication. Her research is grounded in a constitutive perspective and focuses on management/leadership communication, culture and conflict, diversity, race and gender, and aggressive communication, with a particular interest in healthcare organizations. She has published her research in numerous national journals. She has also published five books and several chapters.  She has developed a theory and associated measurement tool for a construct called structurational divergence, which describes the intractable organizational conflicts that can result from the simultaneous application of multiple meanings in intra- and inter-professional interactions. She is also interested in the application of structurational divergence models to cultural competence training for healthcare practitioners who serve traditionally marginalized populations. She is also active as a consultant, designing and delivering organizational communication based management and leadership training, with a special interest in serving professionals in the developing world.

Dr. Nicotera is the conference planning chair for the DC Health Communication (DCHC Biennial Conference Series), in partnership with the Kentucky Conference on Health Communication. 

Current Research

The examination of communication among nurses and other healthcare professionals, especially in hospital settings, and the unique organizational design and form of hospitals.

Selected Publications

Stenhouse, N., A. Harper, X. Cai, S. Cobb, A. Nicotera, and E. Maibach (2016). Conflict about climate change at the American Meteorological Society: Meteorologists' views on a scientific and organizational controversy. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. doi:10.1175/BAMS-D-15-00265.1.

Nicotera, A.M. (2015). Damned if I do and damned if I don’t: How structurational divergence strips actors of agency and what to do about it. [Forum essay]. Management Communication Quarterly, 29, 493-498.

Kim, W., Nicotera, A.M., & McNulty, J. (2015). Nurses’ perceptions of conflict as constructive or destructive. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 71, 2073-2083.

Nicotera, A.M., Zhao, X., Mahon, M., Peterson, E., Kim, W., & Conway-Morana, P. (2015). Structurational divergence theory as explanation for troublesome outcomes in nursing communication. Health Communication, 30, 371-384.

Nicotera, A.M., Mahon, M.M., & Wright, K.B. (2014). Communication that builds teams: Assessing a nursing conflict intervention. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 38, 248-260.

Nicotera, A.M., & Mahon, M.M. (2013). Rocks and hard places: Exploring the impact of structurational divergence in nursing. Management Communication Quarterly, 27, 90-120.

Nicotera, A.M., Steele, J., Catalani, A., & Simpson, N. (2012). Conceptualization and test of an aggression competence model. Communication Research Reports, 29, 12-25.

Courses Taught

COMM 200 Introduction to Communication
COMM 301 Foundations of Interpersonal Communication
COMM 401 Interpersonal Communication in the Workplace
COMM 335 Organizational Communication
COMM 530 Theories of Small Group Communication
COMM 600 Introduction to Graduate Studies
COMM 634 Theories of Interpersonal Communication
COMM 635 Foundations of Organizational Communication

Dissertations Supervised

Lane M. Schwager, Maybe I Wasn’t So Crazy After All: Affirmation Through Workplace Television For Women. A Grounded Theory Expansion Of CCO And Institutional Positioning (2023)

Xavier D. Clark, We Are the Luxury, Not Your Products: A Critical Structurational Analysis of Black Consumer Experiences in Contemporary/Luxury Retail Stores (2023)

Katherine E. Hyatt Hawkins , The Influence of Message Framing, Health Identity, and Regulatory Focus on Obesity-Related Health Behavior Intentions (2019)

Kristen L. Willett, A Wife or a Patient: Fibromyalgia Patients’ Communication Behaviors Regarding Social Support and Coping (2015)