Unit VIII reflect

HCA 3301, Health Care Management 1

Course Learning Outcomes for Unit VIII

Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:

5. Evaluate ways to improve the quality of patient care in a health care setting. 5.1 Describe effective approaches to overcoming communication barriers in a health care

organization.

Course/Unit Learning Outcomes

Learning Activity

5.1 Unit Lesson Chapter 15 Unit VIII Reflection Paper

Required Unit Resources

Chapter 15: Professionalism and Communication

Unit Lesson

Communication for Quality in Health Care Organizations

Patients experience stressful situations in the hospital emergency room due to either a sick family member or any other traumatic event. (Galitskaya, n.d.)

Students in this course are aspiring health care leaders. As such, they must understand a very important aspect of the medical leadership role. We have the responsibility of caring for patients who are going through a very difficult time in their lives. The very fact that they are patients in our facilities should tell us that they are not at their best. They are stressed, feeling ill, may be in significant pain, and their families and friends are

UNIT VIII STUDY GUIDE Professionalism and Communication

HCA 3301, Health Care Management 2

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sharing this experience with them. Nobody is at their best when they are receiving medical care. All of these factors make communication more difficult, but as leaders, we must find a way to achieve clear and effective communication with our patients and their loved ones. It is a very important responsibility.

Is Communication Tougher Today?

Provider-patient communication in hospitals is more difficult today for a variety of reasons. First, the patient’s stay in the hospital is much shorter today, averaging just over 3 days. A few decades ago, patients would typically stay in the hospital for a week or more, providing plenty of time for daily interaction with doctors, nurses, and therapists. There was more time and more opportunity to achieve strong communication. Everything is rushed in today’s medicine. Nobody likes that, but it is reality. Medicare, Medicaid, and managed care organizations set strict limits on length-of-stay, and those limits are not going away any time soon (Huang, 2019).

Today’s medical care is also much more complex. There is simply more information for patients and families to understand now and more to comprehend. Combine the short length-of-stay with the complexity of care, and add in the fact that caregivers themselves are much busier than we were in the past, and you get the idea. It is harder to achieve mutual understanding with patients now.

We must achieve exactly that before we discharge the patient home or transfer them to another facility. Safe transitions to home, the nursing home, or to a rehabilitation center are so important. These transitions are also our greatest area of risk for patient safety. The history of U.S. health care has seen so many problems at the time of “handoff,” when one caregiver passes responsibility for the patient’s care to another. We must do better at these times of transition (Huang, 2019).

Why Is Communication so Important?

The purpose of communication is to create shared understanding. When we achieve effective communication with patients and families, they can actively participate in their own care, and that changes everything. When patients truly understand their own condition and their own treatment plan, they have better compliance with therapy and better self-management. They also know when they should reach out and communicate condition changes to the provider. A key concept here is sustaining communication between patient and provider long after discharge. Our care teams must continue to communicate with patients after transition to ensure positive outcomes and to strengthen patient-provider relationships. All of this is worth the extra effort. Sustained high quality communication means that patients stay well, stay out of the emergency room, and avoid readmission to the hospital (Huang, 2019; Olden, 2019).

Conclusion—The Biggest Impact of Strong Communication in Health Care

Hospital admission is stressful for anyone, not just the patient, but everyone who cares for the patient. The modern hospital is an intimidating, high-tech place. We must make sure that it is also a “high-touch” place. Patients will naturally be hesitant to question what is happening to them. They have grown up in a culture where doctor’s orders carry a lot of weight, but they are also transitioning into a culture where the internet provides so much information about their symptoms, the diagnostic process, and options for care. They will have questions!

Successful health care organizations find a way to welcome the patient’s questions and concerns. They do one more very important thing—they find a way for the patient to preserve his or her dignity throughout the health care process. Solid communication is key there. When patients feel informed, they feel cared for, and their dignity is preserved. They have a voice in what is happening to them, we all want that.

Good communication is important in every industry, important in every relationship, and so very important in our health care facilities. As we lead our own facilities, let us put strong emphasis on the communication piece, let’s get it right. We owe it to our patients!

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References

Galitskaya, E. (n.d.). Young woman sitting in hospital waiting for a doctor`s appointment (ID 141154771) [Photograph]. Dreamstime. https://www.dreamstime.com/young-woman-sitting-hospital-waiting- doctor-s-appointment-patients-doctors-room-image141154771

Huang, L. (2019, August 19). Importance of communication in healthcare. CiperHealth. https://cipherhealth.com/blog/importance-of-communication-in-healthcare/

Olden, P. C. (2019). Management of healthcare organization: An introduction (3rd ed.). Health Administration Press.

Suggested Unit Resources

In order to access the following resource, click the link below.

Strong communication with your health care team is so important. Learn more about that by viewing this video from The Wellness Network!

The Wellness Network (Producer). (2017). Communicating with your healthcare team [Video]. Films on Demand. https://fod-infobase- com.libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=146552&tScript=0

The transcript for this video can be found by clicking on “Transcript” in the gray bar to the right of the video in the Films on Demand database.

Learning Activities (Nongraded)

Nongraded Learning Activities are provided to aid students in their course of study. You do not have to submit them. If you have questions, contact your instructor for further guidance and information.

This Chapter 15 Click to Reveal Terms activity reinforces information on lesson content that you will find helpful. A PDF of the Chapter 15 Terms activity is also available.