Insititutional Affliation:
Two Strategies in an Interdisciplinary Team
In a bid to restructure healthcare and the evolving interdisciplinary teamwork, leaders have been challenged to be responsible when working with organizational and institutional groups. Clinicians and nurses must endeavor to work as member-leaders to improve on healthcare objectives and patient outcomes. Shared leadership and stewardship are some of the strategies where a nurse takes a leaders role without appearing formally as a leader (Heinmann & Zeiss, 2002). Nurses’ stewards make reasonable changes in their practice based on courage and discipline. This is through logical reasoning of the best in every situation. Improved healthcare environment characterized by high quality care levels is got through ethical principles nurses hold, the choices and decisions they make, and stewardship. Steward Nurses act as role a role model for other nurses to improve their service to clients in a bid to transcend illness, diseases and suffering. In following the footsteps of stewards, nurses ought to use reasoning capacity that is virtue-based as this will promote healthcare, as the nurses’ capacity to respond to patients with sensitive is upheld and promoted (McCloskey & Maas, 1998).
Shared leadership involves distribution leadership roles where the people in the team lead one another. The team leadership does not rely on the chosen leader. Team leadership in healthcare interdisciplinary settings helps each nurse to influence other people in a non dominant or bureaucratic way. It greatly improves team performance and effectiveness as all ideas are brought together. This is through exposure of different leadership traits in a team which allow all the nurses to showcase their different abilities (McCloskey & Maas, 1998). This sharing of power and influence among all the members of an interdisciplinary team allows more freedom and autonomy. Also, it fosters responsibility and accountability amongst the nursing members as each feels that he is a leader who stands to be counted on, and help accountable for decisions made. It eases the central and dominant role of a single superior leader Heinmann & Zeiss, 2002).
Importance of Active Involvement
Since a nurse takes care of the sick, communication with other players in the team is very significant. Here, the nurse will seek clarity of issues from the different scopes of patients’ problems by asking relevant questions. Here, the nurse will probe the team of healthcare experts drawn from different disciplines, to give the best intervention and prevention measures each based on his/her field of professionalism or expertise. This is because comprehensive care is beyond one field of expertise or training (Gage, 1994). A nurse comes in to seek all the fields involved and how they can assist in taking care of patients. Interdisciplinary communication are critical in healthcare since the differing experts have to work together to meet the complex demands of multifaceted patient care demands. A nurse better understands the severity, complexity and uniqueness of patient’s medical condition which vary by patient and by condition. In an interdisciplinary team, on a nurse can be able to seek clarity and note when such information is being communicated (McCloskey & Maas, 1998).
Two ways in Interdisciplinary Team
It is becoming critical for a comprehensive interdisciplinary teamwork in improving healthcare. Nurses’ involvement in interdisciplinary activities is essential in enabling healthcare providers understand and keep up with the rapidly changing priorities in healthcare. This will assist in organizing activities and financial budgets to meet the changes. Nurses seek to take care of the sick and hence coordination with other professions is a big role to play in an interdisciplinary team. This is because it will deliver population-based, cheap and effective costs on healthcare, disease control and health promotion strategies which are crucial in challenges in the current healthcare challenges. Nurses’ involvement in interdisciplinary teamwork improves professional satisfaction, enhances the need for long-term preventive care, and is a good learning opportunity for new approaches and skills. Interdisciplinary teamwork fosters creativity and innovation, and helps professional to focus on areas of expertise (Heinmann & Zeiss, 2002).
A nurse can act in the capacity of a collaborator and coordinator of the interdisciplinary team. In this regard, he uses his intellectual and professional knowledge, to define problems and decide on goals of the team. He and other in the team will look for information about the problem; gather opinions from relevant members, open discussions to expand the problem to each professionals present. After these potential solutions are identified and management plans highlighted, and the best are chosen for each problem (McCloskey & Maas, 1998). A summary of the plan is then developed and each member assigned a task. As a coordinator, a nurse can come up with standards for accomplishing these tasks together with a code of behavior. An open forum is recommended where members are encouraged to take part. When conflict arises, a nurse will foster harmony and aim at reaching a consensus for the best option common for all is sought. He should also evaluate and review the interaction during and after it is complete (Gage, 1994).
Psychological safety
Nursing is founded on the basis of caring for the sick which involves high risk people such as elderly, children and the disabled. Empathy and compassion ought to be offered at all the patients. However, intimacy, emotional and responsibility overload should be avoided. Instead, discuss the emotional challenges and foster high quality trust and collaboration showing dedication to assisting (Sameer, 2011).
Active Leadership
According to Sameer (2011), safe healthcare environment involves good leadership where each staff member and expert know and executes the duties that he is expected to perform well. This includes patient responsibility first, being accountable and always doing the best to improve health of the patients. An active leader will budget for time and resources and develop a plan and programs that maximally utilize them.
Fairness
In the healthcare settings, services offered should always be the best in treatment and intervention measures without any ill will. Equal treatment for all patients is paramount and decisions made for medication and preventive measures should be as fair to the management and the patient as possible. Each patient is treated with respect of his culture, race, disease condition, of economic status. Discrimination and favors should not be tolerated in the healthcare settings. Fairness includes respect for privacy and autonomy, both for workers and patients and allowing freedom of speech and consent (Sameer, 2011).
Transparency
Patient safety should be prioritized, where the health benefits and risks of a therapy or medication should be well communicated. This will help both the healthcare givers and client to make well informed decisions on treatment methods and intervention measures. This applies in current updates on products to both, and reporting issues of clarification and to relevant regulatory bodies in healthcare. In the delivery of healthcare, interdisciplinary involvement of nurses ensures efficient delivery of care through maximum use of resources and facilities and enhances quality life improvement efforts (Sameer, 2011).
References
Gage M. (1994). The patient driven interdisciplinary care plan. J Nurs Admin.:24(4):26-35
Heinmann GD, & Zeiss AM: (2002). Team performance in health care: Assessment and development. United States: Kluwer
McCloskey JC, & Maas M. (1998). Interdisciplinary team: the nursing perspective is essential. Nurse Outlook.;46(4):157-163.
Sammer, C., James, B., (2011) "Patient Safety Culture: The Nursing Unit Leader’s Role" OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing Vol. 16, No. 3,
