Introduction
Collaboration with health care professionals is crucial for enhancing enhanced better patients’ outcome. That is because each member of the healthcare team is usually trained with specific skills that allow them to offer their service efficiently in their particular discipline. Thus, bringing together the professionals provides strength for each discipline by supplementing its weakness in treating patients. In addition, effective interdisciplinary teams results in decreased costs and improvement in patients’ satisfaction, as well as a reduction in mortality and morbidity through error reduction and patients’ safety. (Institute of Medicine, 2001) In that view, this report presents an analysis of interdisciplinary relationships and how they can be enhanced to improve service delivery and an overall organizational goal.
Discussion
Relationships
In its bid to achieve the patients admission time and readmissions, the hospital involves various teams in its programs. That is applied as a means of coordinating patients treatment is suitable time and efficient way that ensures cost reduction and quick outcome. In that view, there in increasing collaboration between the nursing, physical medicine, as well as mental medicine departments. The collaboration entails putting patients through a comprehensive treatment program that handles the increasingly complex problems that involve both physical and mental complications. The collaboration entails sharing of crucial patients’ information among the teams for effective treatment of cases. Thus, the relationships involve, clinical staff who attends to patients, the nurses, pharmacist, and physicians, as well as mental doctors.
Avoiding and resolving conflicts
The complex nature of interdisciplinary collaboration is enhanced by the mixture of professional backgrounds and skills which results to diverse opinions. Thus, it is crucial to recognize that conflict is inevitable and also necessary for the team to grow hence develop effectiveness and efficiency. Thus, there should be support for innovation and resolutions and successful confrontation. Hence, conflicts should be resolved to avoid problems such as withdrawal, low morale, anger, depression and burn out.
Finally, dealing with conflicts should involve members focusing on the overall team’s mission as a means of avoiding the differences in opinion. (AHEC. 2014)
It requires focusing on the main areas as follows:
- Tasks and Roles: Primary health care is usually marked by overlap in skills from various specialists and providers. That is because different professionals have the expertise in patients’ interaction, educating patients as well as forming care plans in addition to the ability by various care provider to diagnose and treat patients. Thus, working together requires devising effective ways of sharing responsibilities rather that defining rigid boundaries. (AHEC. 2014)
- Goals: It is crucial to have a mission statement that all team members can subscribe to and devise their clear goals that are realizable, clear and providing for achievement of a common goal.
- Leadership and decision making: The leadership necessary for the situation is dependent on the nature of the problem with shared responsibilities and participation in the team, members. (AHEC. 2014)
- Communication: There must be effective communication for exchange of information. Thus, it requires space, time and regular opportunity for team members to meet. (AHEC. 2014)
Working as a team
There is an increasing need for interdisciplinary teams resulting from the following
- Problem of increasingly aging population hence increase in a number of people with complex health care.
- The increase in the complexity of knowledge and skills required for patient's treatment.
- The increasing specialization in healthcare professions and the corresponding fragmentation of the various disciplines knowledge.
- The pursuit of continued care for quality improvement.
- The increasing emphasis on countries policy on multi-professional teamwork as well as development of shared learning.
Thus, the hospital must restructure towards interdisciplinary teams that must integrate the changing organizational values in the new service delivery model. (Bennett-Emslie & McIntosh, 1995) In that view, interdisciplinary teams are essential aspects of the modern day organizational work and are crucial in facilitating positive as well as cost effective outcomes in organizational settings. In that respect, the complex nature of the healthcare work makes interdisciplinary teams and efficient communication more important. That is because the work demand for skills and knowledge from different specialists who come together to address multifaceted as well as complex patient problems. (O'Connor, Fisher C. & Guilfoyle, 2006)
Making the process better
Making the interdisciplinary teams better should entail the following
- Identification of a leader who establishes a clear vision and direction for the team. That entails effective listening and provision of support to all team members
- Incorporation of consistent and visible values that have a clear definition of the teams direction
- Establishment and promotion of a team culture as well as an interdisciplinary atmosphere of trust that values contributions and fostering of consensus.
- Provision of the necessary infrastructure for the purpose of upholding the team’s vision. Such support includes the referral criteria as well as the communications infrastructure.
- Provision of sufficient staffing for integration of the appropriate mix of skills, personalities, and competencies to meet patient’s needs as well as enhance smooth functioning.
- Promotion of the team’s role interdependence while at the same time respecting the individuals’ autonomy and roles.
- Facilitation of personal development through the appropriate rewards, training, opportunities and recognition for their career development. (McCallin, 2003)
Personal experience
The experience involved an effort to reduce the risks involved with patients’ falls. There was the formation of an interdisciplinary team as an inpatient fall committees. The committee included representatives from various departments such as rehabilitation medicine, nursing. Safety, pharmacy, housekeeping, purchasing, engineering and risk management. The committee’s goal was to implement a fall prevention program in the hospital, and the group launched a prevention education campaign. Thus, the team promoted the view that it is the responsibility of every staff to assist in fall's prevention as patient admitted to the hospital was at risk to fall. (Dartmouth Hitchcock, 2014)
The effort by the committee involved reviewing the falls and management policy at the hospital. It also entailed increasing the pharmacy and rehabilitation medicine evaluations for patients who fell more than once hence prompting the nurses to reassess the patients on daily basis. The engineers also enhanced the bulbs brightness in lighting the rooms as well as implementing the nonslip; double-sided patients’ slippers used. The program also involved use of mega color bracelets to help all staff in identifying patients at significant risk of falls. The collaboration was successful in reducing the rate of falls by utilizing various departmental skills and applying effective communication. (Dartmouth Hitchcock, 2014)
Relationships effect on the organization, patients, and family members
The relationship between various disciplines and providers has a significant effect on the organization, patients, and the patient’s family. That is because effective collaboration enhances the treatments outcomes hence the ability to solve the patients' problem quickly and efficiently. In addition, its lowers the cost of operations for the organization that also benefits the patient's ability through reduced treatment cost burden.
Conclusion
In view of the analysis, there is a growing need for interdisciplinary teams in the healthcare industry because of the changing nature of the work involved and patients’ expectations. Some of the key aspects driving the need is the changing population composition that increases the complexity of the patient's problems. Further, there is increased specialization in healthcare professionals as well as the increasing complexity in skills and knowledge necessary for effective solving of patient's problems. In that respect, the hospital will require adoption of the measure that enhance teamwork such effective leadership, communication and rewards. It will also require training as well as career development and suitable environment that respect individual roles and career development. Further, experience that involved collaboration among various departments has been identified with how skills are sharing enhanced success in reducing patient's fall. Finally, the interdisciplinary relationships have been identified as having an effect on organizational effectiveness, patient’ treatments outcomes as well as cost cutting that are crucial benefits for the patient’s family.
References
AHEC. (2014). Interdisciplinary Health cares Teams. Retrieved from,
http://dcahec.gwumc.edu/education/session3/model.html
Bennett-Emslie, G. & McIntosh, J. (1995). Promoting collaboration in the primary care team
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Dartmouth Hitchcock. (2014). Interdisciplinary relationships. Retrieved from,
http://med.dartmouth-hitchcock.org/nursing/interdisciplinary_relationships.html
Institute of Medicine. (2001). Quality Chasm: A New Health Care System for the
21st Century. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
McCallin, A. (2003). Interdisciplinary team leadership. Nursing Management
O'Connor, M., Fisher C. & Guilfoyle, A. (2006). Interdisciplinary teams in palliative care: a
Critical reflection. International Journal of Palliative Nursing. 12(3):132-137.
