Communication and Teamwork

James Shiplet-Teamwork and Communication

Healthcare providers work in a multifaceted environment. The care of patients in critical care areas, such as intensive care units, emergency departments, surgery, and labor and delivery units, require the constant involvement from individuals with varying professional backgrounds and education. Physicians, nurses, surgeons, respiratory therapists, pharmacist, technicians etc. need to work with each other to deliver expert care in the safest method possible. Although, when these highly qualified professionals learn their skills in their formative education years, scarcely any attention is spent on roles of other members of the patient care team.  And, all too often they don’t have a clear understanding of each other’s roles and responsibilities as part of the healthcare team.  The Institutes of Medicine released their sentinel report in 2000, “To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System” and soon after that the Joint Commission on Accreditation for Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) began advocating team training.  What I liked about this article is it addresses the human error dilemma by using the Crew Resource Management (CRM) method of team training which was taken from the airliner industry, the SBAR method of giving critical concise information to physicians about their patients when they are in a crisis.  CRM education programs encompass team training sessions, simulations, after action debriefings, and measurements of the patient care teams’ performance.  SBAR stands for situation (what happened), background (a short review of the patient), assessment (what you think the problem is) and recommendation (the treatment that you think the patient needs to get better).  With these two items alone many adverse patient incidents can be avoided.

References

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1765783/pdf/v013p00i85.pdf

Module #3-Teamwork

http://ezinearticles.com/?Team-Building-Programs-to-Improve-Teamwork-and-Communication&id=7200436

Teamwork Leads to Effective Communication

Bianca Zinno

Module 3

According to the author, team work is defined as a group of people working together to reach a common goal (Rahman,2012).  There are many benefits to team work. These include creative enhancement, new friendships, a sense of accomplishment, and problem resolution (Rahman,2012).  We use teamwork from childhood, to adulthood, in many situations in our lives (Rahman,2012).  An example of this is coaches, parents and teachers working with us as youths to encourage us to work towards a common goal with our peers. Good team work is a product of good communication. There are three elements to effective communication. People have to be willing to talk and share information, be understanding, and be an active listener (Rahman,2012).  Many problems with team work  in the workplace are results of poor communication. Co-workers need to learn to work together and resolve conflicts through good communication in order to be effective team players (Rahman,2012).  A team can never reach its full potential with good communication skills (Rahman,2012).  Different team building exercises and events can strengthen the communication within a group of co workers. The more co workers communicate, the more they will being to trust each other, resulting in better teamwork in the work place.

Works cited:

Rahman, Nadia. (2012, Jan 2).Teamwork Leads to Effective Communication. Ezine Articles.. Retrieved from  www.ezine.com

Communication and Teamwork

Medical and Nursing students must practice communication and teamwork strategies in order to work together effectively and prevent errors. Poor communication and teamwork while dealing with a patient’s health can result in major medical errors and poor quality of care. In fact, a study by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations reports ineffective communication is a major factor in 60 percent of sentinel events – events that can cause loss of life or limb (Lambert, 2013). Texas A & M have took notice and require communication and teamwork courses in their curricula before a nurse is allowed to graduate. Jack Moreland, Ph.D., M.S.N., RN, TAMHSC-College of Nursing assistant professor. “Although each discipline is great at speaking the lingo in their field and carrying out individual tasks at hand, often times there is a disconnect among the specific health professions, and communication is not received by all (Lambert, 2013).”

Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety (TeamSTEPPS™) is a program that teaches practical skills hospitals can use to create collaboration among professionals, resolve conflict, information sharing, and in the end provide better patient care. It is composed of four teachable skills: leadership, mutual support, situation monitoring and communication through easy-to-follow modules (Lambert, 2013). Students learn TeamSTEPPS™ strategies during class time. These strategies are then practiced in the healthcare setting when clinical rotations are performed in local hospitals. Communication and teamwork tools, like TeamSTEPPS™, provide powerful mechanisms organizations can utilize to improve the sharing of information across the entire health profession, ultimately reducing errors and leading to safer and more efficient patient care,” Dr. Moreland said (Lambert, 2013).

TeamSTEPPS™ is utilized at many health care facilities. It really opens the door to effective communication. With effective communication comes effective patient care. Quality patient care is our ultimate goal in the health care profession and we should strive to communicate and work together to reach that goal. We should provide our patients the best care possible while limiting errors while they are in our care. Besides good communication makes a pleasant atmosphere and leaves no question while in the process of taking care of others.

http://news.tamhsc.edu/2013/04/15/teamwork-among-health-care-providers-optimixes-patient-care/

References

Lambert, H. (2013, April 15). Teamwork Among Health Care Providers Optimizes Patient Care. Retrieved from News Texas A&M Health Science Center: http://news.tamhsc.edu/2013/04/15/teamwork-among-health-care-providers-optimixes-patient-care/

Healthcare Management Strategies

This article is about healthcare management strategies and the three things that matter to healthcare practitioners   They are, managing cost, competency & staffing, plus revenue.  Healthcare is in the news a lot these days due to the passage of the "The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" otherwise known as Obamacare.  The costs of healthcare are one of the biggest problems in the US. Healthcare entities have to control the cost of supplies to remain competitive. Strategies to do this include regulating the processes and supplies  They have to pay for qualified personnel, weighing the benefits of lower paid personnel without the same skill level of personnel with proven competence. And they have to recognize that the costs of making sure their facilities pass all state and federal standards, as well as keeping staff trained so they maintain their certifications, are lower than being fined for violations of each. Most of the people working in the healthcare field are certified, but that doesn't mean they're competent to provide care or perform other duties. Healthcare are requiring minimum standards that all employees must reach based on their job classification. Tracking and evaluating employees mistakes and positive outcomes not only helps healthcare entities learn how to minimize errors, but the good numbers gives them something to brag about. Healthcare staffing is hard to manage because it is mandated by state and federal standards. Healthcare entities must come up with creative ways of managing staff, while making sure they have enough staff to adequately provide care. Sound financial strategies may include not providing services that another facility provides, and concentrating on the services that the facility can do well and with more efficiency. Another revenue strategy is to put more effort into providing services that are cost-effective and offer more and better-paying outpatient procedures.

http://www.ehow.com/way_5427838_health-care-management-strategies.html

Module 2-Management Strategies--Implementing Change

As health care leaders implementing changes in policies and protocols is a constant task.  Michelle Bennett, a senior staff nurse in a pediatric unit in the United Kingdom writes an article in Nursing Magazine-UK about the process of implementing new clinical guidelines in her unit concerning pediatric sedation.

 Bennett uses a democratic leadership style and organizes teams of nurses to help her in the process.  She clearly communicates information regarding the changes and why she needs their participation.  By doing this she motivates the team's participation to accomplish the goals.  Bennett feels that the best approach to implement the changes is to follow the Lewin Change Model which was developed by Kurt Lewin.  Lewin (1951) describes the change process in three stages:  1) Unfreezing (prepare and plan for the change), 2) Experiencing the change and 3) Re-freezing (solidify the change). 

Bennett's plan of action includes a ten step process:  1) Identify the need for change (the unfreezing stage in Lewin Change Model).  Changes needed to occur with the unstructured sedation practices causing extended length of stay due to drug withdrawal symptoms.  Bennett discussed her concerns with her colleagues and found that they all had the same concerns and agreed that change needed to occur.  2)  Establish the views of her colleagues and team members which is vital for effective change. 3) Perform a comprehensive literature review to provide evidence based research data backing up their decision for change.  4) Share results and obtain colleague input into compiling draft guidelines.  5)  Provide training and information resources in a flexible manner that best suits the department.  6)  Compiling draft guidelines that are clear, easy to understand and follow.  7)  Implementing draft guidelines.  This phase represents the experiencing the change in the Lewin Change Model and the guidelines are put into action.  8)  Review and amend guidelines.  Bennett identifies this phase as the re-freezing stage in the Lewin Change Model where the newly implemented guidelines are now monitored, evaluated for effectiveness and reinforced.  9)  Implementing amended guidelines.  Bennett communicates with team members and together fine tune any changes.  10)  Carrying out an audit.  This will help staff provide improved patient care and services.

As Bennett describes her process of implementing the changes in her department, it is clear that managers need to have a clear plan of action to successfully meet the goals of the department.



References

Bennett, M. (2003). Applied management. Implementing new clinical guidelines: the manager as agent of change. Nursing Management - UK, 10(7), 20-23.

 Lewin (1951) Field Theory in Social Science. New York, Harper and Row.

Module 2- Management Strategies

Motivational strategies are very important to individuals in the working field. People should be rewarded for their behavior that is acceptable, and which can also enhance performance and motivate them. This article was very interesting to me title reads “Friendly workplace linked to longer life”. Researchers at Tel Aviv University found that people who felt that they had the support of their colleagues and generally positive social interactions at work were less likely to die over a 20-year period than those who reported a less friendly work environment (O'Connor, 2011). Studies have proven that getting along with your colleagues at work may do more than boost your productivity, and can extend your life.

A stressful job can cause a person to become mentally, physically, and emotionally unstable. The manger should have some type of organizational behavior to see how people act in the organizations to improve employee’s behavior. One thing they noticed was that the risk was only affected by a person’s relationship with his or her peers, and not with that person’s supervisors. The way people viewed their relationships with their bosses had no impact on mortality (O’Connor, 2011). I certainly believe that a lack of a relationship with co-workers over a period of time can cause a person to be unhappy and withdrawal from their workplace. You can live longer if you are enjoying life and it’s filled with happiness.

References

O'Connor,Anahad. ( 2011, 5 Aug) Friendly workplace lined to longer life.
              The New York Times

Retrieved from
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/05/friendly-workplace-linked-to-longer-life/

Module 2-Healthcare Managment Strategies-Turning employees into problem solvers

http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6279.html

The Institute of Medicine published To Err is Human ten years ago (Hanna, 2010). The report caused medical mistakes to be in the spotlight and become a hot topic (Hanna, 2010). We all make mistakes, but it is an important part of management to recognize those mistakes, and come up with solutions so that the mistakes are not repeated. Medical mistakes cost nine to fifteen billion dollars annually (Hanna, 2010). So what is management to do to decrease these numbers?

According to the article, management needs to prompt their employees to speak up (Hanna, 2010). If an employee notices something that is a potential mistake, tell a manager, so that they can address the problem and find a solution. In 2010, Harvard did a study to see what types of tactics management could use to encourage employees to speak up. According to the study, patient safety campaigns are a good start (Hanna, 2010). Instituting these types of campaigns increased the number of employees to speak up by five percent (Hanna, 2010). In addition to this, managers that “practiced what they preached’, and reported problems themselves had numbers higher than this (Hanna, 2010).

The next step is for management to evaluate the types of problems that are happening, and determine if they are repetitive problems that have an easy solution. Evaluation is key in management, and can be helpful in solving a multitude of problems (Hanna, 2010).

The last thing that the author talks about is recognizing what she calls “front line employees”(Hanna, 2010). These are employees that are willing to go the extra mile to help their department limit the amount of mistakes they make. These employees are not perfect, and may make mistakes themselves, but are willing to take criticism, and problem solve when needed. These employees also have watchful eyes, and report things to management that should be reported (Hanna, 2010). They avoid near-miss situations, and help management when necessary.

Works Cited

Hanna, J. (2010, Aug 30). Havard Business School. Retrieved from hbs.edu.