Capella 4010 Assessment 2

Capella 4010 Assessment 2 Interview and Interdisciplinary Issue Identification

Name

Capella University

NURS-FPX 4010 Leading in Intrprof Practice

Prof. Name

Date

Interview Summary 

For this assessment, I interviewed Diana Ryan, a registered nurse at Riverbend Medical Center (RMC), a large healthcare facility offering comprehensive facilities, including emergent and urgent care, surgeries and procedures, and medical treatments. Diana, who has over seven years of experience at RMC, performs duties that include preoperative and postoperative patient care, medication administration, and coordination with the surgical team in the surgical unit. During our interview, Diana highlighted key issues at RMC, primarily staffing shortages and communication breakdowns among interdisciplinary teams. To address these, RMC implemented bonuses for overtime, hired temporary staff, and increased recruitment efforts. They also introduced team meetings and standardized protocols to improve communication. Yet, nurse burnout and interdepartmental inefficiencies persist. Despite an organizational culture supporting collaboration, the high-pressure environment and heavy workloads hinder effective coordination. Diana emphasized that an interdisciplinary plan is crucial to resolving these issues and improving patient care.

The interview employed several effective strategies to ensure sufficient information was gathered. I used open-ended inquiries to encourage Diana to share detailed experiences and insights. Furthermore, active listening gestures, such as nodding and summarizing her points, helped validate her experiences and ensure accurate understanding (Weinstein et al., 2022). I also added some follow-up questions to delve deeper into specific issues and actions, providing a comprehensive view of the organizational problems and efforts to address them. They helped explore the underlying causes of organizational issues (Dunwoodie et al., 2022). For example, I asked for specific examples, reasons behind actions, and impacts of those actions, enhancing the depth and quality of the information gathered.

Issue Identification 

Although staffing shortages and communication breakdowns are crucial issues, this assessment focuses on addressing communication breakdowns using an interdisciplinary approach. Communication breakdowns among healthcare teams are a significant issue. They cause interventional delays and medical errors in patient care due to fragmented information flow, non-adherence to protocols, and insufficient use of collaborative technologies (Street et al., 2020). This results in miscommunication regarding patient needs and care plans, undermining patient safety, care quality, and staff morale. A systematic solution is needed to address these inefficiencies.

An interdisciplinary approach is suitable for addressing communication breakdowns as it fosters collaboration and integrates diverse healthcare perspectives. It promotes developing and adhering to standardized communication protocols and advances unified technologies, enhancing information flow and reducing errors (Liu et al., 2021). Furthermore, the interdisciplinary teams can provide ongoing feedback and adjust strategies, ensuring effective strategies are employed in a dynamic healthcare environment. This collective effort improves patient outcomes and staff satisfaction by creating a cohesive and efficient communication system. 

Change Theories That Could Lead to an Interdisciplinary Solution

The Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) change theory offers a structured framework for implementing and evaluating change in healthcare settings. It focuses on repetitive cycles of planning, doing, studying, and modifying interventions based on implementation findings (Kay et al., 2022). This change theory creates an interprofessional solution by considering interdisciplinary input to study the effectiveness of interventions through observation and data collection and acting on insights gained to continuously refine and enhance communication protocols. This approach encourages collaboration across departments and empowers frontline staff to actively identify and address communication barriers, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and interdisciplinary teamwork at RMC. 

This model is relevant to communication breakdowns in RMC, as highlighted in a study by Kay et al. (2022) demonstrating the effectiveness of utilizing PDSA cycles to improve communication in nursing home settings through SBAR training programs. The source is credible due to its recent (2022) publication in a reputable journal and authentic database (PubMed). Additionally, it is relevant as it provides practical guidance on applying PDSA cycles to address communication challenges among interdisciplinary teams to improve patient outcomes. 

Leadership Strategies That Could Lead to an Interdisciplinary Solution

Implementing a transformational leadership approach can facilitate the development of an interdisciplinary solution to communication breakdowns in RMC. Transformational leaders inspire and motivate multidisciplinary teams by encouraging a shared improvement vision, promoting coordination, and enabling teams to provide their expertise (Jun & Lee, 2023). This leadership strategy is particularly relevant to the identified issue at RMC as it emphasizes aligning diverse stakeholders toward a common goal. By adopting a transformational leadership approach, leaders at our organization can inspire a shared vision of improved communication and patient care by role-modeling, encouraging open dialogue, and providing support to facilitate collaboration. 

An article by Jankelová and Joniaková (2021) mentions that nurse managers’ primary responsibility is to ensure effective communication among healthcare teams, augmenting patient safety and health outcomes. Thus, a transformational leadership approach is essential to promote collaboration and teamwork by motivating and inspiring team members through role modeling. This article claims that nurse managers demonstrating effective communication skills are likelier to instill these competencies in their teams, improving organizational performance. This credible study provides a viable strategy (transformational leadership) to address communication breakdowns at RMC. Its credibility and relevance are highlighted by its publication date (2021) and its presence in the authentic database of the National Library of Medicine – PubMed Central. 

Collaboration Approaches for Interdisciplinary Teams

One collaborative approach that could help improve collaboration within already established interdisciplinary teams at RMC is the TeamSTEPPS framework. Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety (TeamSTEPPS) is a framework, grounded in evidence, established by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to enhance communication and coordination among healthcare teams (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, n.d.). By implementing TeamSTEPPS, RMC can provide interdisciplinary teams with structured tools and strategies to enhance communication, teamwork, and mutual support. Additionally, TeamSTEPPS can help establish a shared understanding of roles, responsibilities, and expectations among team members, facilitating smoother communication and more effective teamwork. It is a relevant approach for identified issues, offering a credible and practical solution to improving coordination and communication within healthcare teams.

A study by Hassan et al. (2024) demonstrated the efficiency of this framework in boosting nurses’ thoughts about effective communication and teamwork in healthcare settings to maintain patient safety and deliver high-quality healthcare. This framework is crucial for healthcare organizations like RMC to foster a patient safety culture among nurses and other healthcare professionals. The source is credible and relevant as it is available in a peer-reviewed journal, underscoring the importance of the TeamSTEPPS framework to ensure high-quality care. A recent publication (2024) highlights current evidence-based best practices to improve staff collaboration, which is crucial for RMC to improve communication inefficiencies and foster a collaborative environment. 

References

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (n.d.). TeamSTEPPS (Team Strategies & Tools to Enhance Performance & Patient Safety). Www.ahrq.gov. https://www.ahrq.gov/teamstepps-program/index.html 

Dunwoodie, K., Macaulay, L., & Newman, A. (2022). Qualitative interviewing in the field of work and organisational psychology: Benefits, challenges and guidelines for researchers and reviewers. Applied Psychology, 72(2), 863–889. Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.12414

Hassan, A. E., Mohammed, F. A., Zakaria, A. M., & Ibrahim, I. A. (2024). Evaluating the effect of TeamSTEPPS on teamwork perceptions and patient safety culture among newly graduated nurses. BMC nursing, 23(1), 170. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-024-01850-y 

Jankelová, N., & Joniaková, Z. (2021). Communication skills and transformational leadership style of first-line nurse managers in relation to job satisfaction of nurses and moderators of this relationship. Healthcare, 9(3), 346. NCBI. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9030346 

Capella 4010 Assessment 2

Jun, K., & Lee, J. (2023). Transformational leadership and followers’ innovative behavior: Roles of commitment to change and organizational support for creativity. Behavioral Sciences, 13(4), 320. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13040320 

Kay, S., Unroe, K. T., Lieb, K. M., Kaehr, E. W., Blackburn, J., Stump, T. E., Evans, R., Klepfer, S., & Carnahan, J. L. (2022). Improving communication in nursing homes using Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles of an SBAR training program. Journal of Applied Gerontology: The Official Journal of the Southern Gerontological Society, 42(2), 7334648221131469. https://doi.org/10.1177/07334648221131469 

Liu, P., Lyndon, A., Holl, J. L., Johnson, J., Bilimoria, K. Y., & Stey, A. M. (2021). Barriers and facilitators to interdisciplinary communication during consultations: A qualitative study. BMJ Open, 11(9), e046111. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-046111 

Street, R. L., Petrocelli, J. V., Amroze, A., Bergelt, C., Murphy, M., Wieting, J. M., & Mazor, K. M. (2020). How communication “failed” or “saved the day”: Counterfactual accounts of medical errors. Journal of Patient Experience, 7(6), 1247–1254. https://doi.org/10.1177/2374373520925270 

Capella 4010 Assessment 2

Weinstein, N., Itzchakov, G., & Legate, N. (2022). The motivational value of listening during intimate and difficult conversations. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 16(2). https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12651