Effective Teamwork In Healthcare: Importance, Impact, And Evidence-Based Approaches

Instances of Efficient and Inefficient Communication in a Healthcare Setting

On account of what can be inferred from the critical observation of the MET call, four instances have been identified that represent a clear understanding of efficient and inefficient between the group of nurses working together to assist the patient Dolly who had recently underwent a surgical operation of her right hip bone done. The following instances significantly serve as valuable evidences to support two effective and 2 ineffective communication instances as perceived by me on critically accessing the video.

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After Monica who is Katie’s perceptor arrives with the MET team which is headed by Chanika, the MET nurse and Kelli the registrar it is evident that the team adheres strictly to the orders given by the senior supervisors present in the team which is evident when Chanika or Kelli order Katie or Monica to get the requisites in order to proceed with the treatment such as pain relief tablets or saline fluid.

There are instances in the video when the nurses are seen talking among themselves or arriving to conclusions at the same time which is creating a confusion in the mind-set of the patient who is under observation and at the same time when nurses talk amongst themselves it becomes difficult to follow and be specific of who is saying what. The instances are seen at two points in the video, the first one when the nurses agree upon observing the condition of the wound before deciding upon antibiotics and the second instance is recorded when nurse Kelli assists Monica with the efficiency of monitoring IV

The second instance of efficient communication and effective coordination is seen when at each step the nurses keep on explaining the procedure that would be followed and the underlying reason behind following the specific procedure so that the patient is clear about the intervention and at the same time, specific roles are assigned to all the nurses so that there is no confusion in carrying out a particular job. Instances where information in relation to the intervention is clearly dispensed to the patient can be evidently observed when the patient was conveyed that Paracetamol would be administered in order to control the temperature and that saline would be monitored in order to prevent dryness of the mouth.

Instances of inefficient communication in the video includes repeating the information to the MET team at every instance as was clearly conveyed at the initial phase by nurse Katie and nurse Monica with the team MET team arriving. Repeating the information leads to the cause of delay in arriving at a decision. Further on many occasions it was seen that the nurse Chanika and the registrar nurse Kelli did not pay much heed to the information dispensed by Katie such as not much attention was paid to Katie when she dispensed the information about Dolly not passing her urine since last afternoon, rather it seemed as if the MET team relied more upon the similar information being given to them by Monica.

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Effective coordination between the nursing professionals and their existing coordination while practicing in the patient ward such that they are able to work by maintaining a positive environment thereby enabling patient safety at its best. On the basis of a research carried out at the European FP7 project focused on the nursing professionals dispensing care to the patients and ensuring patient safety at the maximum revealed that a cooperative work environment in the patient ward with smooth flow of communication operating between the nurses placed in charge of the patient would generate better safety outcomes of the patient (Kirwan et al.,2013). The research study was based on a cross-sectional qualitative study that recorded the responses of the nursing professionals working in 108 general and medical wards in approximately 30 hospitals throughout Ireland. The study considered the response of about 1397 nurses who presented their views on their experience while working in a team, which testifies that better team-work helps in making the patient much more calm and cooperative as the patient is able to trust the team entirely and thus it helps in better medical service delivery (Foronda et al.,2016). Ineffective team work while handling critical patients or old-age patients creates a negative vibe on the patient where in the patient feels extremely uncomfortable and inconvenient in the presence of the hostile nurses which is not a positive sign as it should be remembered that the professional responsibility of a team of nurses is to provide care and not to generate a negative impact on the patient (Manias et al.,2015).

Inefficient or poor team work and interrupted communication flow lead to the establishment of poor relationship with colleagues and as a result it leads to a creation of negative impact on the working staff which elicits poor organizational culture that makes it difficult to bring in new employees as they are repelled by the behaviour of the superiors (Gausvik et al.,2015). Also due to demotivating and rude colleagues the organization constantly faces issues pertaining to abundant employee turnover. Research studies also reveal the fact that because of a negative work atmosphere, the professionals are unable to utilise their potential which contributes in the growth of the employees being stagnant (Van et al.,2013). Studies also reveal that in case of ineffective team support employees often feel demeaned or are too scared to voice their opinion or suggestion regarding a particular treatment scenario (Al Sayah et al.,2014). Hence, it can be said that to maintain a motivating and positive team-work in a health care setting, it is important to ensure an efficient team work. On the contrary it can be said that effective team work can help in maintaining an efficient professional relationship between the employees that would help them in staying motivated and gain knowledge on the basis of experience gathered on observing the pattern of decision making followed by the supervisors and seniors while handling critical and emergency situations (Cowin & Eager,2014). Therefore, effective team work plays a major impact on the positive environment of a work space in accordance to a hospital or a health care setting and provides ample opportunities to the nurses to improvise their potential and performance.

Benefits of Effective Teamwork in Healthcare Settings

Effective team-work in a hospital setting would ensure interventions to take place in an efficient way with perfection and within a stipulated framework of time (Mitchell et al.,2013). Efficient team-work would help in dispensing quick service and improve the quality of patient service in critical emergency outpatient services that would help in upholding the motto of dispensing quality service and bringing in more clients (Aitkin & Eagar,2013). Whereas at the same time, ineffective team-work would lead to deteriorating the service quality and also the accuracy while framing decision in accordance to the critical requirement of the patient thereby adding value to the brand of the healthcare organization and also ensuring a positive work atmosphere which would act as a motivation for the employees and ensure a hike in the profit outcome gained by the organization (Ajeigbe et al.,2013). It is critical to take note of the fact that a healthy organization is completely dependent on a healthy workforce hence efficient team work and maintenance of a healthy communication can help in the overall progress of the employees which can directly be correlated to the brand recognition of the healthcare organization.

References:

Aitkin, L., & Eagar, S. (2013). Collegial relationship breakdown: A qualitative exploration of nurses in acute care settings. Collegian, 20(2), 115-121. doi: 10.1016/j.colegn.2012.04.008

Ajeigbe, D. O., McNeese-Smith, D., Leach, L. S., & Phillips, L. R. (2013). Nurse-physician teamwork in the emergency department: impact on perceptions of job environment, autonomy, and control over practice. Journal of Nursing Administration, 43(3), 142-148. doi: 10.1097/NNA.0b013e318283dc23

Al Sayah, F., Szafran, O., Robertson, S., Bell, N., & Williams, B., (2014). Nursing perspectives on factors influencing interdisciplinary teamwork in the Canadian primary health care setting. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 3(19-20), 2968-2979. doi: 10.1111/jocn.12547

Cowin, L. S., & Eagar, S. C. (2013). Collegial relationship breakdown: a qualitative exploration of nurses in acute care settings. Collegian, 20(2), 115-121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colegn.2012.04.008

Foronda, C., MacWilliams, B., & McArthur, E. (2016). Interprofessional communication in healthcare: an integrative review. Nurse Education in Practice, 19, 36-40. doi: 10.1016/j.nepr.2016.04.005

Gausvik, C., Lautar, A., Miller, L., Pallerla, H., & Schlaudecker, J. (2015). Structured nursing communication on interdisciplinary acute care teams improves perceptions of safety, efficiency, understanding of care plan and teamwork as well as job satisfaction. Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare, 8, 33-37. doi: 10.2147/JMDH.S72623

Kirwan, M., Matthews, A., & Scott, P. A. (2013). The impact of the work environment of nurses on patient safety outcomes: a multi-level modelling approach. International journal of nursing studies, 50(2), 253-263. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2012.08.020

Manias, E., Geddes, F., Watson, B., Jones, D., & Della, P. (2015). Perspectives of clinical handover processes: a multi-site survey across different health professionals. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 25, 80-91. doi: 10.1111/jocn.12986

Mitchell, R., Parker, V., Giles, M., & Boyle, B. (2013). The ABC of health care team dynamics: understanding complex affective, behavioral, and cognitive dynamics in interprofessional teams. Health Care Management Review, 39(1), 1-9. doi: 10.1097/HCM.0b013e3182766504

Van Bogaert, P., Wouters, K., Willems, R., Mondelaers, M., & Clarke, S. (2013). Work engagement supports nurse workforce stability and quality of care: nursing team?level analysis in psychiatric hospitals. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 20(8), 679-686. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpm.1200