Why is communication important for tcrm

Summary

The purpose of this proposal is to develop an interprofessional team for the health care

professionals of Alistair Health Services (AHS) to reduce medical errors, delayed diagnosis, or

wrongful drug administration. This proposal will identify strategies to improve communication

and collaboration to better manage patient welfare through the efforts of an interprofessional

team.

The lack of communication among health care professionals in the organization, along

with financial challenges, staffing patterns, and shortage of health care professionals, have

increased medical errors. To improve this, an interprofessional team that consists of team

members from different disciplines in the organization will be formed. The selected leader of the

team will develop a communication plan for doctors, nurses, and other health care staff to

improve collaborative communication. This will encourage the sharing of important information

about patients and allow staff to address and resolve problems more efficiently.

The chances of AHS facing such complex issues would be minimized in an alternative

scenario where there are adequate funds to employ more staff, sufficient primary care physicians

and health care personnel, and a cohesive interprofessional team.

Commented [A1]: Good identification of these potential contributing factors as part of the summary

Commented [A2]: A good start. The summary should present the main points of the proposal and provide the reader with a concise summary.

PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP 3

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I. Introduction

Like other healthcare organizations, AHS is facing problems because of the changing

nature of the industry, including increased use of technology, accountability, and cost

effectiveness in providing optimal care to patients. Medical errors may be systematic as well as

personnel related, indicating the necessity of effective interdisciplinary communication as an

access point for intervention, change, and education (Wang, Jin, Feng, Huang, Zhu, Zhaou, &

Zhou, 2015).

II. Problems that have Affected Alistair Health Services

Some of the factors that have contributed to a recent rise in medical errors are as follows:

a. Lack of communication: Poor communication in AHS has deterred collaboration

and delayed treatment. Doctors, nurses, health care administrators, and staff may

lack awareness of hospital policies and procedures. Communication failures in the

organizational hierarchy of AHS have arisen because of the fear of questioning or

challenging the authority of a person or group that is higher up in the hierarchy.

This leads to many information gaps in patient care and processes and

miscommunication across disciplines.

b. Financial challenges: AHS is pressured to satisfy patient needs at minimal costs

without compromising the quality of care. The organization is limited in its ability

to maintain adequate staffing patterns, purchase new equipment and offer

competitive compensation to potential health care professionals as well as existing

staff (Drennan, Halther, Gale, & Harris, 2016).

Commented [A3]: This is an important observation in understanding the drivers of the identified issue.

Commented [A4]: A good introduction to the proposal, e.g., identification of the problem, pertinent drivers, and the anticipated strategy for resolution.

PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP 4

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c. Physician and nurse shortages: AHS has few primary care physicians on staff and

is experiencing a nursing shortage. The overload of responsibilities on the

physicians, nurses, and other health care staff leaves little time to communicate

important patient-related and system information. Nursing shortages have been

attributed to high turnover, inequitable distribution of the workforce, burnout,

remuneration, career development, and an aging workforce (Drennan, Halther,

Gale, & Harris, 2016).

III. The Need for Interdisciplinary Collaboration in AHS

Communication difficulties can occur when multiple disciplines of AHS are responsible

for the same patient. Miscommunication among doctors, nurses, and other health care

professionals due to lack of proficiency with electronic medical records, processes for

medication delivery, staffing patterns, and ineffective communication have been observed.

An interdisciplinary team would be ideal to effectively provide quality care at AHS.

Interdisciplinary collaboration will improve aspects of care such as transfer of knowledge,

sharing of information, and enhanced decision-making (Morely & Cashell, 2017). Physicians and

nurses must constantly communicate with the administrative and support staff so that

appointments are not postponed and patients do not have to face delays in treatment. If all team

members coordinate their efforts and communicate effectively, they can be up-to-date about

patients’ illnesses and diseases and possibly prevent medical errors.

IV. Proposed Solution

Interprofessional teams require an effective leader that prevents employees from feeling

uncomfortable with change. Leaders must develop emotional intelligence, which is the

Commented [A5]: Good work in this section. You have delineated each area of concern related to this issue, using the relevant literature and research for support.

Commented [A6]: Who would be a part of this team? Can you be more specific in terms of discipline or professional roles?

Commented [A7]: Effective communication and collaboration are essential components here for effective and quality service delivery. Good work.

PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP 5

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awareness of one’s own emotions as well as those of others. Leaders must also allow the

employees working at the frontline to make decisions and have input into policies. Autonomy

and positive relationships with team members have led to the improvement of patient care and

outcomes (Poghosyan & Liu, 2016).

To improve communication among the health care staff members of AHS, leaders can

apply the skills of a scholar-practitioner. Scholar-practitioners familiarize themselves with the

current research about a topic, analyze information, and find information gaps and solutions to

problems. Leaders at AHS can review and analyze the current status of knowledge about

effective communication, identify information gaps or needs, and use an evidence-based

approach to address challenges such as communication deficits and lack of interprofessional

collaboration, thereby reducing medical errors.

V. A Plan for Effective Communication in an Interprofessional Team

a. The management of AHS should arrange regular team meetings to encourage

problem-solving, collaboration, and decision-making in the organization. These

meetings can also address the diversity of perspectives and differences among

team members and make them more sensitive toward each other. This will also

help health care personnel communicate clearly with a diverse set of patients;

b. The management of AHS can ensure a common understanding of organizational

challenges by collecting well-organized inventories of work-related problems

from all team members to implement effective processes and solutions

(Lyubovnikova, West, Dawson, & West, 2018).

Commented [A8]: Good work. Shared decision making with employees who are actually on the front lines is a great strategy for success in this scenario.

Commented [A9]: What leadership style is consistent with the actions and behaviors you describe in this section? What type of leadership might be of benefit to address the identified problem(s)?

Commented [A10]: Good point …Using the best evidence in the field in conjunction with professional knowledge and experience is reflective of the scholar practitioner model. What might be a specific example of how this model is utilized in practice for this specific scenario?

Commented [A11]: How might this be accomplished? Examples?

PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP 6

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c. Organizational policies may have to be modified to suit the dynamic environment

of the hospital, including recruitment of qualified health care personnel and fiscal

responsibilities. The AHS management should interact with the organization’s

administration and ethics committee regularly to ensure that policies are

consistent with the ethical principles, such as the principle of beneficence, the

principle of nonmaleficence, and justice, which safeguards patients’ well-being;

and

d. The improvement in medical errors can be assessed through peer review and the

collection of data and identification of points of intervention. The results will be

shared as reports with the interdisciplinary teams and key stakeholders. The team

can convene regularly to evaluate the results of the data and reprioritize goals.

By following these strategies, the interprofessional team can reduce the number of

medical errors at AHS. However, the progress of the team will have to be monitored to ensure

that the confidence of the stakeholders toward the organization is intact.

Conclusion

The ultimate goal of AHS is to ensure patient safety and optimize the quality of care.

Considering that most of the medical errors in the past have been due to a lack of communication

among health care providers from different disciplines, the best way to prevent such incidents in

the future would be to encourage effective communication and to improve collaboration among

doctors, nurses, and other health care staff working in AHS. This will ensure that the medical

errors in the organization are reduced and the health outcomes of patients improve.

Commented [A12]: Good identification of these principles; these are critical points related to ethical practice and leadership.

Commented [A13]: Good work to establish a mechanism for the feedback. Who will be the responsible person to ensure this occurs? Is it helpful to set time parameters to ensure evaluation and review?

Commented [A14]: Good, evaluation is a critical component of this process…a circular event where evaluation leads to new strategies and implementation.

Commented [A15]: A fine proposal to address this issue with an interprofessional team.

PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP 7

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References

Drennan, V., Halter, M., Gale, J., Harris, R. (2016). Retaining nurses in metropolitan areas:

Insights from senior nurse and human resource. Journal of Nursing Management, 24(8),

1041-1048. doi: 10.1111/jonm.12402

Lyubovnikova, J., West, T. H. R., Dawson, J. F., & West, M. A. (2018). Examining the indirect

effects of perceived organizational support for teamwork training on acute health care

team productivity and innovation: The role of shared objectives. Group & Organization

Management, 43(3), 382-413. doi: 10.1177/1059601118769742

Morely, L., & Cashell, A. (2017). Collaboration in health care. Journal of Medical Imaging and

Radiation Sciences, 48(2), 207-216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmir.2017.02.071

Poghosyan, L., & Liu, J. (2016). Nurse practitioner autonomy and relationships with leadership

affect teamwork in primary care practices: A cross-sectional survey. Journal of General

Internal Medicine, 31(7), 771-777. doi: 10.1007/s11606-016-3652-z

Wang, H., Jin, J., Feng, X., Huang, X., Zhu, L., Zhao, X., Zhou, Q. (2015). Quality

improvements in decreasing medication administration errors made by nursing staff in an

academic medical center hospital: A trend analysis during the journey to Joint

Commission International accreditation and in the post-accreditation era. Therapeutics

and Clinical Risk Management, 2015(11), 393-406.

https://doi.org/10.2147/TCRM.S79238