Health Assessment and Communication
sdesimone
BSN-FP4002_TallarineSamantha_Assessment1-1.pptxCommunication Barriers & Patient’s Safety
Samantha tallarine
Capella university
May, 2019
Communication Barriers
When competition arises within a team that should focus on a hared goal, effective communication will be flawed.
The presence of prejudice on the basis of class, race and class will mainly affect verbal communication (Hughes, 2008).
The collaborative process requires trust which when lacks results in ineffective communication.
Portrayal of a defensive attitude by team members and being reluctant to accept suggestion from other members of the team (Costa & Lusk, 2017).
The presence of electronic health records which provides written communication are not always supportive if interdisciplinary communication because of the brief and precise nature.
An interdisciplinary team is a group of healthcare providers from different fields who work together or towards the same goal to provide the best care or outcomes for patients (Hughes, 2008).
The input by nurses in an interdisciplinary team is not well received for instance by doctors and surgeons and nurses find it difficult to speak up.
The presence of tools like electronic medical records, vocera and texting have added complexity to team communication.
Other Barriers include:
lack of a clearly stated, shared, and measurable purpose
lack of training in interprofessional collaboration
role and leadership ambiguity(Costa & Lusk, 2017).
team not composed of appropriate professionals
lack of appropriate mechanism for timely exchange of information
traditions/professional cultures, particularly medicine’s history of hierarchy
lack of commitment of team members
different goals of individual team members(Hughes, 2008).
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Effect of Communication Barriers on Patient's Safety and Health Outcomes
When effective communication fails in an interdisciplinary team, the safety of the patients is at risk for the following reasons;
Critical information lacks
The available information is misinterpreted
Orders given over the telephone are unclear
Status changes are overlooked.
Ineffective communication creates an opportunity in which medical errors can arise and as a result cause unexpected death of the patient or severe injuries.
Medical errors that arise from communications failures are prevalent problems today in healthcare settings.
According to institute of medicine (IOM) between 44,000 and 98,000 people die every year in the US hospitals because of medical errors and communication failures are leading root cause for these deaths(Hughes, 2008).
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Strategies to Improve Interdisciplinary Team Communication
The healthcare can invest in communication skills training for all the staff within the interdisciplinary team. This is because effective communication skills are taught and thus not innate.
A comprehensive team communication strategy should be implemented and should comprise of a communication tool that is standardized. One such example include SBAR technique to facilitate and prompt appropriate communication about the status of the patients. SBAR allows the to share information I a concise and a more focused manner (Weller, Boyd & Cumin, 2014).
The presence of this technique will minimize the presence of misunderstanding .
SBAR refers to situation, background, assessment and recommendation and it is a situational briefing guide for all the staff on the changes on patients status (Weller, Boyd & Cumin, 2014).
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Strategies Cont’d
Team brief and debrief: this is a short session mainly held at the start of a clinical or shift activity. It enables the team o collectively discuss the aims, roles, outcomes, responsibilities and safety issues. Debriefing is when the team come together after activity to determine how it all went on and discuss approaches on how things can be improved.
Huddles: This is a strategy that occurs part way through a team or shift task. Through this approach the team improves information sharing and communication (Royal College of Physicians , 2013).
Effective team briefs and debriefs have been proven to lead to better patient outcomes. Debriefs focuses on how the team can improve performance through reflection and also facilitate reinforcing positive behavior.
In huddles, the team members come together to review activity and allow re- establishement of situational awareness. The members can review plans and adjust as needed in response to ongoing care needs. Huddles will solve communication problems also by creating a sense of togetherness and thus strengthening the overall commitment to the team and providing morale (Royal College of Phycisians , 2013).
Other Strategies that Can be Implemented
The leadership support for communication initiatives can be made highly visible. This can be done by the leaders creating an environment where open communication is facilitated through modeling the appropriate behavior setting expectations and investing in support systems within the structure of the organization. The leaders and managers should promote communication that is patient centered as a requirement for care that is safe and of high quality.
Another strategy is call-out and check back. In call out, it is a technique in which critical information in an emergency is communicated. The clinician calls out questions and commands, ensuring that all team members are simultaneously informed of updates and can anticipate the next steps. This allows for more accurate documentation. Check-back involves a technique where a confirmation is sought that the information given by the sender has been received and understood (Royal College of Phycisians , 2013).
The interdisciplinary team members can learn about other professions, develop trust among themselves, be willing to share responsibility for patient care and finally enhance a willingness to continuously overcome the communication barriers.
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The Benefit of Communication Strategies
Communications tool that have been discussed enhances an environment in which the individual team members cab speak up and voice their concerns e.g. during team briefing and debriefing.
Team work will be facilitated and as a result risks and medical errors will be minimized.
The SBAR tool enhances patients safety and enhances a flow of communication between team members on the condition the client is in.
Communication improvement techniques promotes diagnostic accuracy and the interdisciplinary team will realize satisfaction from their practice.
SBAR can prevent misdiagnosis and wrong medication and also allows the team to work together towards the patients well-being.
Communication influences on the quality of working relationships and job satisfaction. Effective communication will allow the practitioners to build a good rapport among themselves and with the clients and as a result tasks and responsibilities will be done well due to job satisfaction and commitment to the collaboration efforts.
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Benefits Cont’d
Communication failures result in poor outcomes also for the patients, organization and community.
With effective communication, patient’s risk and deaths will be reduced and they will also experience more satisfaction from the quality care and services provided.
As a result of improved patients outcomes and services, the organization image will improve ad the community will develop trust on the healthcare services and care team available (Weller, Boyd & Cumin, 2014)
Effective communication is of critical importance in achieving safety patient care.
Barriers to effective communication arises due to the complexity in the healthcare environment.
Interventions to improve team communication and collaboration relationships improves patients outcomes, satisfaction for both team and practitioners and faith in the community.
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References
Costa, C., & Lusk, P. (2017). Perceptions of Interdisciplinary Communication Among Correctional Health Care Providers. Journal of Correctional Health Care, 23(1), 122-130.
Hughes, R. (Ed.). (2008). Patient safety and quality: An evidence-based handbook for nurses (Vol. 3). Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Royal College of Physicians . (2013). Setting Higher Standards: Improving teams in healthcare Resource 3: Team communication. Health Education England (https://www.rcem.ac.uk//docs/External%20Guidance/ITIH%20R3%20Final.pdf).
Weller, J., Boyd, M., & Cumin, D. (2014). Teams, tribes and patient safety: overcoming barriers to effective teamwork in healthcare. Postgraduate medical journal, 90(1061), 149-154.
