4
Andrea Raines and Karen Hardin
Introduction
Ensuring high quality and safe patient care is the foundational underpinning and cornerstone of nursing. While the patient is at the center of the nursing care we provide, we must understand the importance of teamwork and collaboration involved in the art of nursing. This chapter utilizes the Institute for Healthcare Improvement as a resource for your reading. Please follow the instructions and utilize the outline provided to guide your reading. According to the QSEN Institute (2020), the definition of teamwork and collaboration in nursing is to “function effectively within nursing and inter-professional teams, fostering open communication, mutual respect, and shared decision-making to achieve quality patient care.” The specific knowledge, skills, and attitudes required to meet this important standard are outlined in the table here and should be referenced throughout the nursing student journey: https://qsen.org/competencies/pre-licensure-ksas/#teamwork_collaboration
Learning Objectives
The student will analyze the nurse leader’s role in developing relationships within healthcare that lead to effective communication by the end of the course.
Exercises
Transforming Care at the Bedside: How-to Guide: Optimizing Communication and Teamwork
Click the above link to access the assigned reading and use the outline below to direct your reading. The pages for required reading are identified and students are not required to read the entire book unless desired. Please use the outline provided to take notes while reading.
Section One: The Rationale for Improving Teamwork and Communication on Medical-Surgical Units
Pages 7- 8
- Reasons and benefits of teamwork and communication
- Improved workforce satisfaction
- Patient safety and Quality impacts
- Job satisfaction
Section Three: Strategies for Improving Communication and Teamwork
Pages 13- 23
- Four essential building blocks for improving staff vitality
- Optimizing Teamwork and Communication
- Improving staff communication
- Assertive communication between team members
- Optimizing Teamwork and Communication
- Environment of trust and respect
- High-Leverage Changes for Optimizing Team Communication
- Promote Assertive, Effective Communication among Multidisciplinary Team Members
- Where does it begin
- Methods to improve communication
- AHRQ TeamSTEPPS
- Situational briefing techniques: SBAR
- Encourage Staff to Communicate Effectively During “Difficult” or “Crucial” Conversations
- Difficult conversations: high stakes with varying opinions
- Steps for difficult conversations
- DESC
- Difficult conversations: high stakes with varying opinions
- Promote Assertive, Effective Communication among Multidisciplinary Team Members
- Enhance Multidisciplinary and Unit-Based Teamwork
- Inviting, Enlisting, & Setting Aside
- Multidisciplinary rounds
- Improve Handoffs and Transitions
- Healthcare Handoff Definition
- Three approaches for standardizing communication
- Convene briefings, huddles, and debriefings
- Enact structured handoffs
- Hold change of shift reports at the bedside
References
QSEN Institute. (2020). QSEN institute competencies: Teamwork and collaboration. https://qsen.org/competencies/pre-licensure-ksas/#teamwork_collaboration
Lee, B., Shannon, D., Rutherford, P., Peck, C. Transforming Care at the Bedside How-to Guide: Optimizing Communication and Teamwork. Cambridge, MA: Institute for Healthcare Improvement; 2008. Available at: http://www.IHI.org.
