Capella FPX 4005 Assessment 2

Name

Capella University

NURS-FPX4005 Nursing Leadership: Focusing on People, Processes, and Organizations

Prof. Name

Date

Interview and Interdisciplinary Issue Identification

In a healthcare setting, many interdisciplinary issues exist, impacting patient care. This assessment focuses on an interview with a medical professional to identify a problem in Gifford Medical Center that can benefit from a multidisciplinary solution. It outlines the change models, leadership, and cooperation methods to overcome the concern identified.

Summary of Interview

I interviewed with the nurse manager at Gifford Medical Center, a critical access hospital offering surgical and transitional care. She has over eight years of experience as a nurse manager, directing nursing staff, liaising with departments, and regulating patient flow. One critical issue she discussed is higher readmissions due to poor communication among the team and the patient during discharge, leading to adverse outcomes. Previously, to address this issue, the facility implemented an Electronic Health Record (EHR) to improve communication and documentation during patient discharge.

Still, it did not work due to a lack of standardized protocol. Leadership conducted discharge education workshops and integrated follow-up calls. However, it failed due to non-compliance. The nurse manager told that organization has a positive culture however, units operate in silos. She underlined the significance of adopting standard communication methods like teach-back and interprofessional collaboration between nurses, physicians, and management to better patient results through efficient discharge planning. Gledhill et al. (2023), stated that shared goals and collaborative interaction among the primary stakeholders facilitate effective subacute care discharge planning.

I used active listening approaches and took notes where necessary. The conversation was thorough to gain a complete understanding of the issues and investigate the limitations of using interdisciplinary techniques. I also used the open-ended inquiry strategy to obtain detailed responses. I asked questions to better comprehend the problem, like “How can interdisciplinary collaboration solve this issue? Adopting this approach is also supported by evidence. Dunwoodie et al. (2022), asserted that open-ended interview questions allow respondents to speak freely about a topic without direction, enabling rich data production on distinctive aspects of a topic.

Issue Identification

During the interview, the problem was recognized as increased readmissions at Gifford Medical Center due to improper discharge planning and patient management due to poor communication among care team members and the patient. According to the literature, poor communication among stakeholders, including the care team and patients, led to greater confusion and lower trust in medical providers (Gledhill et al., 2023). An interdisciplinary strategy is appropriate to solve this issue because it encourages collaboration among stakeholders to address the multifaceted causes of readmissions, like communication and patient interaction.

Nurses’ collaboration with case managers, physicians, and pharmacists ensures comprehensive patient care at the time of discharge. Each team member has a particular duty in the patient discharge, like offering education, communicating with patients, and drug reconciliation. Shared goals and collaborative interaction among stakeholders promote effective discharge planning and readmission reduction (Gledhill et al., 2023). Structured interdisciplinary discharge meetings help improve the release process and patient management. Adopting a multidisciplinary method at Gifford Medical Center can improve patient services upon discharge and reduce readmissions.

Change Theory and an Interdisciplinary Solution

Lewin’s Change Theory is a well-known and widely accepted model for organizational change. It has three stages: unfreezing, transforming, and refreezing (Amina et al., 2022). This theory can help create a multidisciplinary approach since it defines the hospital’s sequential transformation process and is most appropriate for addressing the patient readmission concern at Gifford Medical Center. During the unfreezing stage, leadership can involve staff in a discussion to acknowledge the need for improved discharge practices and a coordinated strategy to reduce readmission. During the transformation phase, the hospital can deploy a team of specialists to coordinate actions, such as planned team meetings for patient release and follow-up care.

Implementing standardized discharge guidelines and the teach-back method will also help to improve staff-patient communication. The refreezing stage focuses on sustaining new routines with ongoing monitoring, input, and managerial assistance. Lewin’s approach has strong evidence. Amina et al. (2022), recognized its usefulness in introducing change and assisting organizations in meeting their goals. The study found that using Lewin’s change theory assists nurses in efficient discharge planning. The teach-back method helps boost communication between the care team and the patients. The resource’s credibility is established, and it underlines the applicability of this theory in facilities via a quasi-experimental study.

Leadership Strategy and an Interdisciplinary Solution

To address the higher readmission and related communication problem, an efficient leadership approach like Transformational Leadership (TL) can be adopted. According to Nnate et al. (2021), the TL strategy has been recognized as a crucial method for leading change in organizations. The leader collaborates with every teammate based on expertise and knowledge, instilling trust and commitment to the set targets. TL can motivate nurses, physicians, pharmacists, and social workers to work towards the common goal of reducing readmissions, creating an interdisciplinary solution.

They make a clear vision for improved discharge planning, delegating responsibility to team members and building a trust and collaboration culture. Evidence showed that TL inspires and motivates team members to collaborate and develop relationships toward a common goal, generating a supportive setting to address issues (Ystaas et al., 2023). The resource of Nnate et al. (2021), is credible and relevant as it offers evidence on the role of TL in promoting multidisciplinary teamwork for discharge planning to reduce readmissions and lead to improved organizational culture.

Collaboration Approach for Interdisciplinary Teams

Interprofessional collaboration is critical for addressing complicated clinical difficulties such as patient readmission owing to ineffective communication among the care team. Adopting a Multidisciplinary Teamwork (MDT) model based on forming a multidisciplinary discharge coordination team panel aids in improving interaction and cooperation. Diverse specialists are involved in enhancing patient care and addressing issues. They can recognize and identify difficulties in effective discharge through weekly meetings. Ibrahim et al. (2022) state that face-to-face contacts improve medical teamwork and care quality. Further, TL is critical for improving interprofessional collaboration. It boosts confidence and helps teammates share their issues, resulting in better teamwork (Nnate et al., 2021).

This ensures that all perspectives are considered when resolving the causes of readmissions. Integrating an empathic communication approach aids in improving team interaction and collaboration. Team empathy is related to listening actively, comprehending, and acknowledging team members (Lobchuk et al., 2020). It leads to better teamwork, patient relations, and care practices. Lastly, adopting a novel EHR- based departure readiness communication system allows staff to communicate about discharge and patient release readiness status and boosts team interaction in real time (Keniston et al., 2021). Adopting the MDT framework based on a team panel is ideal to increase cooperation. Ibrahim et al. (2022), evidence is credible since it validates the utility of team meeting, indicating that collaboration helps to improve care practice and resolve patient discharge issues.

Conclusion

Addressing patient readmission and discharge-related issues, efficient communication, and teamwork help to improve patient management and outcomes. Integrating tools and adopting standardized communication methods like the teach-back method can improve staff-patient communication, while team collaboration resolves patient discharge and readmission issues. Efficient leadership, such as the TL, Lewin Model, and MDT models, for collaborative teamwork is crucial to a positive workplace, addressing issues and boosting results.

References

Amina, A., Kassem, A., & Sleem, W. (2022). Applying Lewin’s change management theory to improve patient’s discharge plan. Mansoura Nursing Journal, 9(2), 335-348. https://doi.org/10.21608/mnj.2022.295591

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

Gledhill, K., Bucknall, T. K., Lannin, N. A., & Hanna, L. (2023). The role of collaborative decision‐making in discharge planning: Perspectives from patients, family members and health professionals. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 32(19-20), 7519-7529. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.16820

Capella FPX 4005 Assessment 2

Ibrahim, H., Harhara, T., Athar, S., Nair, S. C., & Kamour, A. M. (2022). Multi-disciplinary discharge coordination team to overcome discharge barriers and address the risk of delayed discharges. Risk Management and Healthcare Policy, 15, 141–149. https://doi.org/10.2147/rmhp.s347693

Keniston, A., McBeth, L., Sr, J. P., Bowden, K., Ball, S., Stoebner, K., Scherzberg, E., Moore, S. L., Nordhagen, J., Anthony, A., & Burden, M. (2021). Development and implementation of a multidisciplinary electronic discharge readiness tool: User-centered design approach. Journal of Medical Internet Research Human Factors, 8(2), e24038–e24038. https://doi.org/10.2196/24038

Lobchuk, M., Bell, A., Hoplock, L., & Lemoine, J. (2020). Interprofessional discharge team communication and empathy in discharge planning activities: A narrative review. Journal of Interprofessional Education & Practice, 23, 100393–100393. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xjep.2020.100393

Nnate, D. A., Barber, D., & Abaraogu, U. O. (2021). Discharge plan to promote patient safety and shared decision making by a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals in a respiratory unit. Nursing Reports, 11(3), 590–599. https://doi.org/10.3390/nursrep11030056

Capella FPX 4005 Assessment 2

Ystaas, L. M. K., Nikitara, M., Ghobrial, S., Latzourakis, E., Polychronis, G., & Constantinou, C. S. (2023). The impact of transformational leadership in the nursing work environment and patients’ outcomes: A systematic review. Nursing Reports, 13(3), 1271-1290. https://doi.org/10.3390/nursrep13030108

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