Problem Statement & Introduction One of the major problems in healthcare today is the ineffective communication among hospital personnel, patients and their families, and the effect it has on patient safety. Communication, as a whole, is very complex and is the root of teamwork and collaboration which aids in keeping patients safe in the hospital. Throughout the healthcare field today patient-centered care and patient safety seem to be major focus points. Unfortunately, ineffective communication can potentially cause patient harm and even death. The breech in ineffective communication between hospital staff and family was clearly portrayed in the story of Lewis Blackman. The lack of both communication, not just verbally but through …show more content…
During the multiple days Lewis was in the hospital a series of symptoms developed and he was misdiagnosed by doctors twice. Many staff members from the healthcare team came in and out of Lewis’s room without properly identifying themselves to Lewis or his family (Haskell, 2009). As portrayed in Appendix 1, all of these safety mishaps during Lewis’s stay led to a decrease in patient and family satisfaction. Also, patient-centered care seems to have almost not even existed in Lewis’s story which affected his safety. Purpose Statement The purpose of this paper is to discuss how lack of communication is the root cause in a patient’s demise. The author will argue that poor collaboration of doctors and nurses, overall satisfaction, and patient-centered care collectively affect patient safety. This paper will enunciate the primary causes that were detected and propose a solution to further enhance the safety and well-being of patients. Quality Measure There are six quality and safety measures as defined by the Institute of medicine (IOM); patient-centered care, evidenced based practice, continuous quality improvement, safety, informatics, and teamwork and collaboration (Cherry & Jacob, 2014). The safety measure is best paralleled with the topic of communication presented throughout this paper. “Safety is the effort to minimize risk of harm to patients through system effectiveness and individual performance” (Cherry & Jacob, 2014,
Communication in the healthcare field may be a little different for some people. Healthcare requires the communication to have a purpose, and that purpose is revolved around a person’s needs. A patient with good staff communication during
Poor communication puts patients in danger because it can lead to medical errors and adverse events. For example, a medication error can occur if a physician’s orders are not updated in time or if the outgoing nurse does not provide the correct time in which a dose was administered last. Thus it is crucial to communicate any recent treatment that has been implemented. In this way, nurses and physicians can facilitate the prevention of errors. Another consequence of ineffective communication is that it can decrease morale and increase work-related stress among members of the healthcare team. If nurses and physicians are not understanding each other’s actions, conflict ensues. It can cause toxic interpersonal relationships. This, in turn, will affect the level of patient care because it is difficult to focus amidst emotional strain and
“Errors in communication give rise to substantial clinical morbidity and mortality (Riesenberg, Leitzsch, & Cunningham, 2010).” As a result, the Joint Commission has identified effective communication as one of its National Patient Safety Goals (Dunsford, 2009).
In preparation of a review from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) Nightingale Community Hospital will focus on improving its communication process in the operating room. The purpose of communication in the healthcare setting is to disseminate information in such a way as to create shared understanding about the patient and about what needs to be done for a positive outcome. (synergia.com) A patient is at his most vulnerable state during procedures that require sedation or anesthesia. The patient is releasing his decision making ability and safety into the control and care of the healthcare team. Therefore, effective communication on behalf of the patient is
The “Lewis Blackman Story” told by Helen Haskell, a person who continues to advocate for change and improved quality of care. Lewis Blackman the son of Helen Haskell died at age fifteen after developing complications after surgery that included incorrect administration of a medication and a nursing team who failed to see the changes in patient’s condition and effectively and sufficiently respond to the change in a timely manner ultimately resulting in failure to rescue and the patient’s death. More specifically, the staff failed to recognize the signs of shock that this patient. Likewise, no rescue plan was in place. Lastly, failed protocols and failed leadership
As the Joint Commission aims to nationally improve health care systems through health care organizations collaborations, it publishes recommended patient safety goals. As stated by the Joint Commission, “the first obligation of health care is to “do no harm””. The Joint Commission’s 2015 National Patient Safety Goals for hospitals include : Identify patients correctly; Improve staff communication; Use
Interdepartmental communication and medical errors have both been proven as causes of harm to patients in health care settings. When there are gaps in communications between nurses changing shifts or patient transitions from one department to another, medical errors can occur and cause harm to patients. Even though there has been improvement in recognition of these problems and actions taken to reduce communication gaps and medical errors, there still needs to be more work, especially in individual facilities.
‘Clear and complete communication between health care providers is a prerequisite for safe patient management. Which is a major priority of the Joint Commission's 2008 National Patient Safety Goals and long-term care (LCT). (Commission, 2008)
The American Nurses Association (ANA) “Code of Ethics for Nurses” (ANA, 2001) states: “The nurse promotes, advocates for, and strives to protect the health, safety, and rights of the patient”. This reflects that advocating for the patient directly correlates with the safety and well-being of the patient. The key part to patient advocacy is effective communication. In recent times, there has been a focus on the connection of effective communication between healthcare workers and patient safety. A number of Institute of Medicine reports has brought focus to the severe matter. The reports have emphasized the concern of the lack of communication in the healthcare setting and the resulting negative patient outcomes. (Hanks, 2012a). This goes back to the notion that while many healthcare professionals consider themselves as a working member of a team, we have the natural tendency to work autonomously. Therefore, it is the nurse’s duty to collaborate patient centered care by practicing good communication skills with the entire healthcare team, the patient, and the patient’s family if consent is given to assure patient safety.
“Organizations with a positive safety culture are characterized by communications founded on mutual trust, by shared perceptions of the importance of safety and by confidence in the efficacy of preventive measures” (Stavrianopoulos, 2012, pg, 202). Communication and teamwork go hand and hand. An effective teamwork involves effective communication. No communication can lead to possible medical errors, whether the failure to communicate comes from the patient to the nurse or between the health care providers. Evidence based care is another factor which aids in safety. “Healthcare organizations that demonstrate evidence-based best practices, including standardized processes, protocols, checklists, and guidelines, are considered to exhibit a culture of safety” (Stavrianopoulos, 2012, pg, 203). Providing better safety means learning from the past mistakes. By understanding the root of the issue, which would then lead to learning how to improve the situation. Educational training about safety should be available for medical staff to attend and learn if there was to be any doubt in he or she’s mind. Patient centered care is another factor in providing safety. It focuses on the patient and their family. Helping patient’s and family be more active in the care of the health plan can lead to safer and better
This paper address the lack of communication between interdicinplnary staff and the patients they care for also the significance of the care giver when patient enter an ICU setting. There are several problems that can occur to patient in an ICU setting when communication between collaborative care is broken down. The biggest issue can be death when this happens or even patient injuries which are two of the biggest concerns when it comes to care of patients. “Notably, when asked to evaluate interprofessional collaboration, nurses consistently rate is lower than doctors, suggesting discipline-specific perspectives on the nature of collaboration (Baggs, Miller, Sexton,2002).” Showing that nurses and physicians are where the problems seems to lye
Communication plays a vital role in the healthcare setting, as the relationship with the healthcare professional sets the tone of the care experience and has a powerful impact on patient satisfaction. It is “the shared process in which messages are sent and received between two or more people which are made up of a sender, receiver, and message in a particular context” (cite, date). This essay highlights the importance of, and some common barriers to, effective communication in the healthcare setting. It involves many interpersonal skills such as effective observation, questioning and listening, giving feedback, recognizing and removing barriers.
Open communication is essential part to a successful healthcare team that directly impacts patient’s lives. In the video “Just a Routine Operation, ” by Laedal Medical Human Factors in Patient Safety, physicians and nurses demonstrates how different human factors contribute to the overall outcome of the patient. Elaine, the patient in the video came into the hospital for a reconstruction surgery. However, during the surgery Elaine had a complication and because the lack of communication, assertiveness, self-awareness, decision-making, teamwork, and prioritization, Elaine did not survive the surgery. This situation shows how important these characteristics are when dealing with emergency care. Even the health care professional with the years
In today’s health care system, “quality” and “safety” are one in the same when it comes to patient care. As Florence Nightingale described our profession long ago, it takes work and vigilance to ensure we are doing the best we can to care for our patients. (Mitchell, 2008)
Opener: Approximately 80% of healthcare errors are due to lack of communication. Whether that is patient to nurse, nurse to nurse, nurse to provider, provider to patient, provider to provider, these errors are likely to have life-long effects on patients and their family members.