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Factors affecting communication in healthcare
Factors affecting communication in healthcare
The need for communication in healthcare
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Healthcare is a dynamic, ever-changing environment. The complex circumstances around daily conversations that encompass life-threatening decisions are critical. In order to deliver high quality care, individuals must be able to communicate effectively. In the perfect world of communication, everyone receives the exact same information and is able to respond the exact same way. Unfortunately, communication breakdown is a prevalent issue among hospitals. On any given day of the hospital arena, multiple interactions take place. Some of the dialogue is planned, and some is not. While hospital departments are living in different silos within the same organization, the cultures may vary among the employees. Hospital leadership fosters the importance of collaboration within the organization and depends on the employees to ultimately drive the process. In order to overcome communication barriers in the workplace, conversations must occur. Engaging in daily face-to-face meetings with employees increases positive work culture, morale and overall productivity.
The problem of poor communication stems from an environment of high stress levels. After a consulting company scrutinized processes throughout the hospital related to care coordination and patient flow, the evidence was clear. The company identified areas for improvement around communication at many different levels. In order for patients to have a seamless transition from admission to discharge, the lines of communication needed to change. Daily face-to-face meetings were productive for the staff, hospital and overall satisfaction. The consulting firm worked for the hospital for several months, but as they departed, the prior culture of poor communication started to engulf...
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...face meetings, the goals of having an increase in positive work culture, employee morale and overall productivity will ensure stability in the ever-changing environment.
Works Cited
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Cuma, M. A. (2011). Raising morale: Six ways to create a positive work environment. Canadian Consulting Engineer, 52(7), 34.
Rogelberg, S. G., Allen, J. A., Shanock, L., Scott, C., & Shuffler, M. (2010). Employee satisfaction with meetings: A contemporary facet of job satisfaction. Human Resource Management, 49(2), 149-172.
Stanley, T. L. (2007). Generate a positive corporate culture. Supervision, 68(9), 5-7.
Weiss, W. H. (2011). Building morale, motivating, and empowering employees. Supervision, 72(9), 23-26.
Communication is cited as a contributing factor in 70% of healthcare mistakes, leading to many initiatives across the healthcare settings to improve the way healthcare professionals communicate. (Kohn, 2000.)
Satisfaction and productivity will be improved when the manager and employees understand each other through improved relationships and understanding of one another.
Communication is the key to any successful profession. A lack of understanding due to miscommunication to lead to harming the business causing losses. In the case of a physician – patient relationship it is not just the revenue that is effected but also the health or even life of an individual depends on effective communication where both parties understands each other.
There are many different causal reasons for the existence of this problem with employee satisfaction and morale. In this paper, I will address what I believe to be the most important factors that contribute to this problem. This employee satisfaction problem, and its causal and symptomatic problems, impacts the department in many ways. For example, we have lost valuable employees resulting in unnecessary attrition. There is a loss in productivity that results from the time and energy that many employees spend dealing with components and symptoms of the individual problems. This wasted t...
Communication encompasses a wide range of processes such as the exchange of information, listening, posing of questions (Fleischer et al., 2009) or use of body language. In a healthcare environment where there are constant interactions among nurses, doctors, patients and other health professionals, professional and effective communication is important in ensuring high quality healthcare standards and meeting the individual needs of patients.
Quality healthcare in the more rural areas of the United States is not only getting more difficult to obtain, but difficult to afford. American citizens living in rural areas have the highest rates of chronic disease, higher poverty populations, less health insurance, and there is less access to primary care physicians. When the economy is at its lowest point it causes an increase in a number of access and health issues that have already had prior problems in communities and in rural areas, therefore the main goal of the national health care tax of 2010 was to allow coverage to all residents of the United States, and also by transferring necessary health care to places that were farther away, such as the rustic areas of the United States (HealthReform.Gov, 2012).
Change is inevitable in healthcare. The purpose of this paper was to discuss and guide the facilitators of change through the process of implementing a future care delivery model. Leadership qualifications and role were identified in an effort to assist the leader in identifying and rectifying complications that can impede progress. Potential conflicts among the enablers of change were discussed as well as tools necessary to minimize these barriers. The Twelve Bed Hospital Model was reviewed in detail and suggestions for transitioning into this model were considered. Lewin’s Change theory was utilized for the change process.
The intent of this paper is to analyze interviews with a staff nurse and a nurse manager. The interview questions revolve around what the nurses perceive as the main communication issues at work. More specifically, the communication issues with patient communication, communication with colleagues and communication with leadership/administration. This paper will also list three actions that would improve communication in response to the issues raised during the interviews.
Collaboration will lead to most effective decision making for patient care. Good communication skills and better resolution will lead to healthy work environment in order to develop better plan in patient care. Finkelman (2012) (Chp12)
According to Kear, the chief cause of sentinel events in the hospital arise from failure to communication (Kear, 2016). Further, the Joint Commission identified the leading cause of malpractice lawsuits stems from improper patient handoffs (2016; as cited by The Joint Commission, 2015). Because healthcare is interdisciplinary, clear communication is an essential link in patient safety and quality care. Whether the handoff takes place from healthcare professional to healthcare professional or location to location, providing up-to-date, concise information on patient status is critical. The breakdown occurs because patient care evolves at a rapid pace in a culture that does not support “time-consuming” communication.
Communication is key in almost every possible setting in the health care field, whether you are the patient or the healthcare professional. Communication helps prevent medical errors and has an impact on the overall outcome of the patient’s health. About eighty percent of medical malpractice lawsuits were due to lack of proper communication which contributed to patient harm (Vines, Dupler, Van Son & Guido, 2014). The study inspires for there to be a change from hand off reporting outside of a patient’s room, to a more involved bedside reporting where the patient and their families are being included and thoroughly comprehending their treatment plan. The purpose of the paper is to further investigate the difference between bedside reporting and hand offs and its effect on patient outcome.
Different facets of organizational behavior were addressed in the three articles reviewed for this project. Pay Satisfaction, Job Satisfaction, and Turnover Intent by Parbudyal Singh and Natasha Loncar examines the relationship between employee position and salary satisfaction and job turnover. The 4 Rs of Motivation by Michael Maccoby suggests a formula from which leaders should pull to motivate subordinates, and Relations Between Leader-Subordinate Personality Similarity and Job Attitudes by Lior Oren, Aharon Tziner, Gil Sharoni, Iafit Amor, and Pini Alon examines the effect the relationship between leaders and subordinates has upon job satisfaction.
I have explained three of the seven principles that I use while interacting with my patients daily. The three methods of communication were defined and explained how each is used in the healthcare setting. The communication method that works best on my unit was explained per my unit’s preference. The four-ethical principle regarding communication were explained along with how these principles and team communication affect patient safety. Overall, this paper has demonstrated why communication is important in the health care
Lewis, J. (2008, May 19). Improving morale and motivating employees Part One. Hudson Valley Business Journal. p. 11. Retrieved from EBSCOHost.
The goal of nearly every company or organization is to motivate those involved towards a unified vision and or goal. When an organization is able to identify the major individual variables that influence work behavior, they can offer an atmosphere that is healthy. Typically, all organizations experience the direct relationship between job satisfaction, and performance. In an effort to maximize the performance of staff within a system it is important to develop an optimal interpersonal chemistry. In order to be most effective, leaders in an organization must have a clear understanding of their employees,