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The importance of communication skills in healthcare
The importance of communication skills in healthcare
The importance of communication skills in healthcare
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How can health care professions make the patient’s experience better in a hospital? There are numerous answers to this question, and in this area there is always room for improvement. The responsibility falls onto the employees at the hospital, and the biggest way they can tackle this goal is to have efficient teamwork. This is a broad topic itself, so how might it be achieved? The first step in great teamwork is communication. The next step is to have a strong leader that can bring everyone together. One final step that is important in achieving teamwork is having a group of people that have a common goal. “By its very nature, much of teamwork is distributed across, and not stored within, interdependent people working toward a common goal.” (Gorman, Dunbar, Grimm, & Gipson. 2017) In this case, the common goal should be to better the patient experience. These groups of people--the
“Effective communication is the foundation for any relationship in healthcare…” (Windover, Boissy, Rice, Gilligan, Velez, & Merlino. 2014) Without communication, it is challenging to get things done because no one knows what the other people in the group are thinking. For some, communication does not come naturally. For this reason, there are articles on how to be a better communicator, According to Karie Tennant, and Alisa Marquez, “communication is a two-way process” (2017). In this process one person should be the informer and the other needs to be an active listener. In order to be an active listener this person needs to provide the informer with feedback on what they just said. This way the informer knows the listener was really listening to what they said. The informer also has the job of making what they want to say clear and concise as well as having the correct tone to get the message across. It is always important for one to voice their opinion, but they need to also be respectful of others
SGH has been plagued with patient quality issues, therefore SGH finds itself in a situation which is inherently antithetical to the mission of the hospital. The costs of healthcare continue to rise at an alarming rate, and hospital boards are experiencing increased scrutiny in their ability, and role, in ensuring patient quality (Millar, Freeman, & Mannion, 2015). Many internal actors are involved in patient quality, from the physicians, nurses, pharmacists and IT administrators, creating a complex internal system. When IT projects, such as the CPOE initiative fail, the project team members, and the organization as a whole, may experience negative emotions that impede the ability to learn from the experience (Shepherd, Patzelt, & Wolfe, 2011). The SGH executive management team must refocus the organization on the primary goal of patient
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.)
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.
In today’s health care organizations, fewer and fewer individuals are working as solo practitioners ; instead, health care is increasingly delivered through teamwork, and teams are a vital component in health care organizations(McConnell,2006). Bauer and Erdogen (2009) define a team as a “cohesive coalition of people working together to achieve mutual goals”. (p.213). According to McConnell (2006) , teams are united by a shared purpose , regardless of the team’s type, composition, degree of performance, or reason for being. In health care organizations, teams are utilized by leaders to address problems and perform tasks. McConnell (2006) states that teams can benefit the organization because they provide greater expertise, enhance morale, improve personnel retention, increase flexibility, and create synergy in the workplace..
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.
Working in the health care setting, teamwork and collaboration are used frequently to insure that everything runs correctly and efficiently. According to qsen.org, teamwork and collaboration consists of functioning effectively within nursing and inter-professional teams, fostering open communication, mutual respect, and shared decision-making to achieve quality patient care. While assessing the patient a nurse can come into contact and work with many different individuals. These can include other nurses, doctors, therapists, and family
The more health care professionals collaborate, the more knowledge is used, and patient safety can be maintained. Communication is related to interprofessional collaboration, because health care professionals collaborate with each other about the patient through communicating with each other. “Collaboration among nurses, physicians, and other members of the care team can improve the outcomes of care for patients” (Engel & Prentice, 2013; IOM, 2010).
Intro- Collaboration with the interdisciplinary team plays a big part in the care of a patient.
The practice of using inter-professional teams in delivering care is not a new concept but current health policy requires professionals work within a multidisciplinary team Department of Health (2001) and entrenched in the Nursing and Midwifery Council (2008) Code. The principle focus of this essay is to discuss the importance of inter-professional collaboration in delivering effective health care and what challenges and constraints exist. The integration of a case study will give an insight into inter-professional collaboration in practice.
Cultivating teamwork is vital in the fast-moving pace of the Emergency Department. One of the most important ways to cultivate this process is through developing a plan of communication with the team. According to L.J. Hood, communication is “…the dynamic interaction between two or more persons in which ideas, goals, beliefs and values, feelings, and feelings about feelings are exchanged. Even very brief communication exchanges may change all involved parties” (Hood, 2014, P.81). In many scenarios some nurses and staff members are unwilling to be those team players that are needed in a busy nursing unit, and many times nurses and staff will not communicate professionally at all. In these situations, some nurses and staff will require coaching sessions on how to communicate, and in worst case scenarios some nurses and staff, who are unwilling to communicate professionally, will be asked to leave the team
“Communication is the heart of nursing… your ability to use your growing knowledge and yourself as an instrument of care and caring and compassion” (Koerner, 2010, as cited in Balzer-Riley, 2012, p. 2). The knowledge base which Koerner is referring to includes important concepts such as communication, assertiveness, responsibility and caring (Balzer-Riley, 2012). Furthermore, communication is complex. It includes communication with patients, patient families, doctors, co-workers, nurse managers and many others. Due to those concepts and the variety of people involved, barriers and issues are present. Knowing how to communicate efficiently can be difficult.
The provision of patient/family-centered care, which assure safety and quality in the service, would have a team work approach as a foundation and underpinning. In a healing process or in the preservation of health intervene several factors, some of them are closely related with the environment. Healthcare providers constitute an important part of that environment, and definitely, communication with patients, families, and among themselves, have a significant impact on it. The environment would influence the patient’s perception of care, and the staff’s level of
To start off on the right path, the team must understand what they are working towards. They must be committed to work hard in order to accomplish their goals. Each member should have expectations from everyone and themselves as part of the team.
Some ways in implementing effective teamwork is by giving the power to make decisions. Giving the team the power to make decisions is a great motivation for effective teamwork and to bring about radical change (p.2). Share clearly defined team objectives: when a team shares and gets feedback from one another their performance and overall effectiveness improves (p.3). Promote efficient team meetings: by having team meetings and using status reports makes a more productive meeting. The status reports helps with the meeting because the report is going to state what already has happened and what needs to be done (p.3). Make individual progress visible to the whole team: In order for the team to make effective progress in the workplace they need to make each individual team member work available to be seen (p.3). Make it fun by melting the ice: Working in a team should be fun and inspiring, not an obligation. A great strategy is having fun and humor that promotes effective teamwork in the workplace. Trying actives like ice breaker to boost the team spirits and bring about positive attitudes is good for the team
Teamwork is defined as, “the process of working collaboratively with a group of people in order to achieve a goal.” (Business Dictionary, n.d.) Ultimately, it provides us with a sense of accomplishment and a feeling of unity amongst each other. It allows us to create healthy relationships, and bond further with our peers, and generally, it’s a necessity for our lives. Teamwork aids us with developing imperative life lessons and skills. It also helps us gain a new perspective, and discover our strengths and weaknesses. Personally, I believe that I work well in a team, and I possess the skills of a good leader. Regardless, some individuals