Teamwork and Improved Patient Safety - Special Academic Support

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Introduction

Researches in the field of healthcare present new ideas and concepts for improving practice in accordance with the emerging needs of the identified patients. Lifelong learning is a tested approach whereby professional nurses examine emerging theories and apply them in their respective units. Organizational leadership needs to be involved to outline emerging guidelines and make them part of the formulated care delivery protocols. This practice helps more institutions improve their ratings in regards to patient empowerment and treatment of various diseases. Through knowledge translation (KT), healthcare facilities can examine and implement emerging teamwork practices to transform service delivery, reduce sentinel events, and improve patient safety.

Selected Topic: Redefining Teamwork to Improve Patient Safety

Successful healthcare programs and organizations focus on evidence-based initiatives to apply emerging information from research. This practice explains why the concept of knowledge translation (KT) has become a common aspect in different health-related fields. Straus, Tetroe and Graham (2013) define KT as a systematic model for integrating the lessons emanating from research to clinical circumstances and nursing settings. The adoption of this strategy can guide medical professionals to introduce better initiatives that can support the establishment of responsible teams in the targeted units. Such groups can work seamlessly by including more professionals with diverse skills to deliver personalized medical services. The participants will remain determined to identify and address specific challenges that have the potential to affect the overall process of service delivery.

The identified topic for this investigation is: Redefining teamwork to improve nursing efficiency and improve patient safety. The reason for selecting the specific subject is that teamwork remains a powerful strategy for influencing positive outcomes in different healthcare settings. Workers who embrace the model will collaborate, solve emerging challenges amicably, identify and apply emerging evidence, and focus on the patients wellbeing. Unfortunately, many hospitals and departments lack organized teams when it comes to the provision of personalized care (Dinh et al., 2020). In most cases, clinicians and physicians are required to complete their roles in accordance with their competencies and areas of specialization (Dinh et al., 2020). This model results in the duplication of roles, failure to provide holistic care, and poor patient outcomes. The use of emerging insights from research could transform the situation and make it possible for more professionals to offer better and high-quality care. These aspects show conclusively that the selected topic is plausible and capable of supporting a paradigm shift in nursing practice.

Past scholars have presented unique insights to explain why teamwork is becoming an important attribute in healthcare. For instance, Dinh et al. (2020) acknowledge that the idea is characterized by improved communication, fast conflict resolution, and identification of new opportunities in practice. Similarly, Klimmeck et al. (2021) observed that the development of teams in departments led to timely patient outcomes. These attributes resonate with most of the observations made in the past regarding the practice. Dinh et al. (2020) encourage leaders in healthcare settings to rely on teams whenever planning to introduce new changes and improve operations. Such a procedure maximizes chances of recording positive outcomes and providing timely services to persons with diverse backgrounds.

Teamwork is associated with a wide range of powerful aspects that work synergistically to improve organizational performance. This topic allows leaders to bring together professionals possessing divergent values and competencies. The practitioners will apply their philosophies to tackle reported cases and guide the patient throughout the healing process (Klimmeck et al., 2021). Units characterized by teams have been found to provide culturally competent care since the individuals have diverse backgrounds and skill sets. In another analysis, Dinh et al. (2020) observed that departments that relied on coordinated teams recorded reduced levels of sentinel events, such as medication errors and surgical mistakes. These arguments, therefore, explain why the selected topic is necessary and worth implementing to improve nursing practice.

Situational Analysis of Context

The identified area of nursing practice whereby additional improvements are needed is the use of teamwork to maximize patient safety. In the selected unit, cases of sentinel events continue to be reported despite the presence of skilled workers who provide timely medical services. These professionals collaborate with each other depending on the reported case, nature of complications, and age of the patient. Unfortunately, the facility continues to grapple with most of the predicaments affecting the countrys healthcare sector, such as increased employee turnover, hospital acquired infections (HAIs), and nursing shortage (Costar and Hall, 2020). Most of the measures implemented at the national level have failed to deliver positive results.

At the local setting, the selected hospital has encountered numerous challenges that are discouraging more patients from getting the much-needed services. Specifically, the outlined issues have led to a number of cases whereby patients report HAIs, falls, medication errors, and poor health outcomes. While these problems appear to be specific to the organization, it is agreeable that they reflect the ones encountered at the national level (Rosen et al., 2018). Without proper mechanisms to address the situation, chances are high that more patients will be unable to receive personalized medical services.

In terms of assessment, scholars and leaders in the countrys healthcare sector have completed numerous investigations to learn more about this issue. For example, Costar and Hall (2020) observed that the nation was facing an increasing shortage of professionals due to poor working conditions, remunerations, and reduced incentives. In another investigation, Klimmeck et al. (2021) linked the absence of coordinated teams to negative patient experiences and outcomes. This gap made it impossible for nurses to liaise with each other, embrace emerging clinical guidelines, and focus on continuous improvements. The nature of these challenges explains why the existing situation calls for KT in an effort to improve the quality of services and care available to more patients.

Key Stakeholders

The selected issue and topic attracts a number of key stakeholders who needs to be part of the proposed change. The first group includes organizational leaders since they have the potential to introduce new practices, solve challenges, and focus on continuous improvement. The second category is that of clinicians and practitioners in the field of nursing practice (Costar and Hall, 2020). These professionals are included in this analysis since they will be the primary beneficiaries of the intended KT project. The third one would include patients who are in constant need of timely medical services. The consideration of these individuals will ensure that their problems are analyzed and addressed through the introduction of the proposed change.

Recipients of the Change

The intended transformation is targeting both community members and healthcare workers. These stakeholders will benefit from the approach in a number of ways. Specifically, the practitioners will find meaning in shared roles, thereby recording reduced burnout and fatigue. More patients will no longer report medication errors, falls, or poor medical outcomes. To support the process, the issue of motivation to change is worth considering (Klimmeck et al., 2021). The involved leaders will monitor individuals needs and provide the relevant resources and support. The involved change agents will identify established teams to provide the relevant motivations, including resources and good working environments.

The change will need to be implemented both at the team and individual levels. This strategy will allow those in leadership to begin by liaising with specific professionals and eventually consider how they can replicate the same at the team level. This issue has been assessed by considering the current gaps at the facility. The next step has been to consider best practices in the implementation of change and the steps that have the potential to help minimize the overall level of resistance (Costar and Hall, 2020). The ultimate aim is to prepare all key stakeholders and ensure that they are informed about the possible benefits of the wider organizational change project.

KT Facilitation Team

The creation of a KT facilitation team is essential to support the intended project and eventually support the replication of the outlined knowledge from research in the facility. The group will be comprised of individuals who possess key competencies and abilities in change management. For instance, the leader, project agent, and employee representatives need to have previous experience in the formulation and introduction of evidence-based practices. They should possess adequate skills sets, such as proper communication, conflict resolution, problem-solving, decision making, and team building (Rosen et al., 2018). The selected employee representatives should have a clear understanding of most of the issues affecting service delivery. In terms of knowledge, the participants should be informed about the issues revolving around nursing and healthcare practice.

To assess the facilitation team, the leaders need to consider what has worked elsewhere and borrow such ideas. The possession of adequate competencies is critical to ensure that the project is successful. A checklist is necessary to analyze the skill sets of the members of the KT facilitation team. Key issues to consider would include past experience, knowledge, and ability to support the transformation (Straus et al., 2013). The completion of such an assessment will increase chances of having a seamless process.

Methods

The specified method for this change process is the plan-do-study-act (PDSA) model. The first one entails the planning for the intended process. The team will interpret the outlined findings and how they can transform healthcare practice (Crowfoot and Prasad, 2017). The second one allows the participants to share knowledge between the intended users and the producers. The third initiative is that of analyzing and studying the implemented insights to inform medical practice. The final action allows the team to act in accordance with the observations made.

To evaluate the initiative, the facilitation team needs to keep journal entries describing the processes and the recorded gains. Emerging challenges would be identified and corrected throughout the KT process (Crowfoot and Prasad, 2017). The observations made during the implementation process will dictate how continuous improvement could be done to introduce the intended teamwork practice. This form of evaluation is simple, practical, and capable of supporting the success of the entire project (Straus, Tetroe and Graham, 2013). The involved leaders and agents would find the method practical and capable of delivering positive results.

The final stage of dissemination will provide room for monitoring whether the process has succeeded or not. During the phase, it will be possible to monitor the number of employees who are finding the selected environment favorable and supportive of teamwork. Other key parameters to examine include the recorded patient experiences and the percentage of sentinel events recorded at the facility (Harvey and Kitson, 2015). A reduced rate of errors and an increasing number of satisfied patients would reveal that the KT strategies have worked.

Action Plan

To achieve the goals of the project, a powerful action plan is recommendable that follows clearly defined phases. During each stage, the relevant KT implementation team will consider emerging issues, engage followers, and focus on the best approaches to introduce the identified knowledge. The involvement of key stakeholders will minimize chances of failure. The beneficiaries, both practitioners and patients, will eventually find the process relevant and capable of improving the overall outlook for the healthcare sector (Harvey and Kitson, 2015). The key phases for implementing KT are outlined below (see Table 1).

Key Phases	Description	Participants	Timeline (months)
Clarify and Engage	During this phase, the implementation team liaises with key stakeholders to understand the current gaps, the proposed change, and the anticipated goals	KT implementation team, health employees, patients, and community members	Nov-Dec 2022 (2 months)
Assess and Measure	The leaders and change agents will examine the preparedness in the selected facility, the available resources, and willingness to change	KT implementation team, health employees, change agents	Jan-March 2023 (3 Months)
Action and Implementation	During this stage, the professionals can consider a proper strategy to introduce the notion of teamwork to deal with sentinel events	KT implementation team, change agents, patients, and nurse practitioners	April-June 2023 (3 Months)
Review and Share	KT team will review the progress made, align the outcomes with the existing research, and share ideas with other units and facilities	KT implementation team, departmental leaders, and managers of other facilities	July 2023 (1 month)

Table 1: Action plan for the KT project

Communication Plan

To support and sustain the intended change process, a proper communication plan would be appropriate to dictate the involvements of different players. The leader of the KT implementation team will have the primary responsibility of disseminating information. The professionals will be required to liaise with the facilitys manager to ensure that every activity is completed diligently and in a timely manner (see Table 2). Status meetings would be necessary to monitor the progress made and examine the willingness of the professionals to embrace the intended practices. Through the power of the developed communication plan, the institution will be in a position to adopt the outlined knowledge and utilize it to improve patient safety (Dinh et al., 2020). The inclusion of both employee and patient representatives is an ingenuous move intended to minimize possible resistance to change (see Table 2). The approach will maximize collaboration and mutual understanding, thereby making it possible for the organization to achieve the outlined goals.

Stakeholder	Method	Frequency	Responsibility	Notes
KT team leader	Implementation meetings	Monthly (First Friday of every month)	Lead the change process and chair meetings	Review progress Report progress Offer guidelines
Facility leader	Status report	Weekly (Fridays)	Organizational leader	Review status of project
Employee representative	Implementation meetings	Continuously (Notices)	Liaise with leaders and share information with fellow workers	Ensure employees in the facility are updated
Patient/community representative	Implementation meetings	Continuously (Emails, letters, and pamphlets)	Communicate to patients in the selected facility	Ensure patients are updated

Table 2: Communication plan for the KT project

Permissions

Organizational theory is an effective concept for guiding leaders to manage their institutions in accordance with the anticipated goals. The process of introducing and experimenting with new knowledge can contribute to numerous challenges, including resistance to change. This scenario explains why a single source of primary authority is critical in the selected facility. Specifically, the organizational leader or chief executive officer (CEO) will offer timely guidelines on what needs to be done. The professional will begin by examining the nature of the proposal to ensure that it is aligned to the overall mission statement (Straus, Tetroe and Graham, 2013). When it comes to the implementation process, the KT team leader will be the one empowered to give permissions regarding the major aspects of the project. These provisions are necessary to prevent disagreements and conflicts while increasing chances of recording timely results.

Conclusion

The completed analysis has presented a detailed plan for introducing new practices informed by emerging knowledge in research. Scholars in the past have presented the idea of teamwork as one of the best tactics for transforming organizational behavior and performance. As described in the above discussion, the selected topic is worth pursuing since sentinel events have become common in nursing practice despite the fact that additional findings are emerging to tackle them. The introduction of teamwork attributes will guide and empower more practitioners to start providing personalized medical services. The proposed stages for implementation are practical and capable of supporting the idea of KT. The outlined communication and action plans are simple and capable of sustaining the intended change process. The introduction of practical teamwork attributes will increase chances of reducing sentinel events and improving the overall level of patient safety.

Reference List

Costar, D.M. and Hall, K.K. (2020) Improving team performance and patient safety on the job through team training and performance support tools: a systematic review, Journal of Patient Safety, 16(3), pp. 48-56. doi: 10.1097/PTS.0000000000000746

Crowfoot, D. and Prasad, V. (2017) Using the plandostudyact (PDSA) cycle to make change in general practice, InnovAiT, 10(7), pp. 1-6. doi: 10.1177/1755738017704472

Dinh, J.V. et al. (2020) Cross-disciplinary care: a systematic review on teamwork processes in health care, Small Group Research, 51(1), pp. 125-166. doi: 10.1177/1046496419872002

Harvey, G. and Kitson, A. (2015) Implementing evidence-based practice in healthcare: A facilitation guide. New York, NY: Routledge.

Klimmeck, S., Sexton, B. and Schwendimann, R. (2021) Changes in safety and teamwork climate after adding structured observations to patient safety walkrounds, The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, 47(7), pp. 783-792. doi: 10.1016/j.jcjq.2021.09.001

Rosen, M.A. et al. (2018) Teamwork in healthcare: key discoveries enabling safer, high-quality care, American Psychologist Journal, 73(4), pp. 433-450. doi: 10.1037/amp0000298

Straus, S., Tetroe, J. and Graham, I. (2013) Knowledge translation in healthcare: moving from evidence to practice. 2nd edn. New York, NY: Wiley-Blackwell.

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