Complete the reading assignment and the interactive lesson before attempting this assignment.
Assess a current semi-direct or indirect nursing situation that is in need of change.
Observe your healthcare environment, focusing on areas of nursing process that are inefficient, unsafe, or problematic in nature.
Diagnose the problem and choose a nursing change theory that suits the change you want to make.
Propose a detailed plan based on your chosen change theory, explaining how to implement change.
Develop criteria to evaluate the effectiveness of the plan and include a timeline for your change proposal.
Reflect on how your change affects the nursing profession.
Write a 3-5 page paper following the criteria below:
Your paper should include primary sources and include at least two peer-reviewed nursing journal articles.
Citations should be in your own words and not direct quotes.
Include a title page, running head, appropriate headings, and reference page.
The paper should be double spaced, written in Times New Roman, 12-point font, follow APA style format, and cite all sources correctly.
Include the proper file naming convention: NUR204_wk9_assn_jsmith_mmddyyy.
When you have completed the assignment, select Next to go to Week 1
Staff Collaboration
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Staff Collaboration
Introduction
Quality of healthcare is a major concern in all health care settings. Poor quality of care is reflected in increased rates of mortality in some parts of the world, such as Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries (Tibeihaho et al., 2021). To improve the quality of care, health workers and hospital management should be vigilant to identify and rectify any problems both in in-direct and direct patient care services (Tibeihaho et al., 2021). Continuous quality improvement efforts have become common in various care settings to maintain high-quality care delivery. Staff collaboration is one of the indirect care services that determine the quality of care provided to patients (Morley & Cashell, 2017). This paper discusses and proposes remedies to an indirect situation in healthcare that needs a change.
Problem Identification
The identified indirect situation of the problem is the lack of staff collaboration and teamwork within the organization. During the assessment of the workplace environment, many health workers alongside other observational results hinted at a lack of collaboration and teamwork that has resulted in poor quality of care (Morley & Cashell, 2017). Health workers do not consult one another in case of uncertain situations, leading to medical errors and poor patient outcomes. Teamwork and collaboration among healthcare workers are essential. Lack of teamwork is usually identified as the primary cause of vulnerability for quality and safety care (Morley & Cashell, 2017). Teamwork and collaboration involve a multidisciplinary team bringing together a range of functional expertise to the task at hand.
Nursing Change Theory
Kotter’s 8 step model of change will be used to implement the change to address the identified problem. The change theory includes 8 steps such as creating a sense of urgency, forming guiding coalitions, developing a vision/strategy, and communicating the vision (Tang, 2019). Other steps include removing obstacles and empowering employees for action, creating short-term wins, and making the change part of the organizational culture. This change model is easy to understand and apply to any workplace. It takes into consideration most aspects or requirements for the successful implementation of change. The 8 step model focuses on the involvement and acceptability of employees to achieve the overall success of the process (Tang, 2019). Therefore, it is an appropriate change model for this case to ensure long-term solutions to the identified issues.
Change Implementation Plan
The plan for implementing the change must align with the proposed change model. The change involves implementing the SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation), a communication tool to enhance collaboration and teamwork among healthcare workers (ASQ, 2022). Based on the 8 step model, the implementation begins with briefing health workers and the management about the problem and requesting their involvement and support. A powerful group is then formed to take over the project activities. The new coalition develops a vision and strategy for realizing the change. They communicate the vision to every healthcare worker and other relevant stakeholders. The next step involves removing the obstacles by putting in place organizational processes and structures that align with the overall organizational vision (Tang, 2019). They also identify people who are resistant and take appropriate actions. The next step is to create short-term wins that are achievable and reward the contributions of individuals involved (ASQ, 2022). The team then consolidates gains by analyzing and improving from success stories of individuals. the last part is anchoring the change into the organizational culture.
Evaluation Criteria
After successful implementation of the change, evaluation is important to determine whether the intended goals are achieved. In this case, staff interviews (nurses, physicians, social workers, psychologists, etc.) will be conducted asking them about their views regarding whether the SBAR has improved collaboration (Tang, 2019). Staff will be asked to note down anytime they used the SBAR took to consult (ASQ, 2022). Such records will also be used to determine whether collaboration and teamwork have improved. The number of medical errors will be compared before and after the intervention to evacuate if it has a positive influence on such incidences.
The implication to Nursing Practice
The proposed change has a positive influence on nursing practice. The change is expected to improve collaboration and teamwork, hence, improving the quality of healthcare delivery. According to (Morley & Cashell, 2017). The benefits of collaboration and teamwork in health care include high quality of care and improved patient safety. Collaboration and teamwork demonstrate improved sharing of evidence-based practices among nurses. It is associated with improved decision-making and increased innovation in nursing care. Collaboration and teamwork among nurses also lead to reduced length of stay as well as improved compliance to standards of care (Morley & Cashell, 2017). Improved communication is also an important product of collaboration. Therefore, the change will have a positive impact on nursing practice.
Conclusion
Continuous quality improvement is the best way to improve patient care and ensure positive patient outcomes. There are so many issues that determine the quality of care provided. Collaboration and teamwork are one of the nursing processes that improve the quality of patient care. Once a problem is identified, a proper nursing change theory is applied to enhance implementation. In this case, the 8 step model is preferred. Collaboration and teamwork have a positive influence on nursing care as identified in the paper.
References
ASQ. (2022). SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation). https://asq.org/quality-resources/sbar
Morley, L., & Cashell, A. (2017). Collaboration in health care. Journal of medical imaging and radiation sciences, 48(2), 207-216. https://www.jmirs.org/article/S1939-8654(16)30117-5/pdf
Tang, K. N. (2019). Change management. Leadership and change management (pp. 47-55). Springer, Singapore.
Tibeihaho, H., Nkolo, C., Onzima, R. A., Ayebare, F., & Henriksson, D. K. (2021). Continuous quality improvement as a tool to implement evidence-informed problem solving: experiences from the district and health facility level in Uganda. BMC health services research, 21(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-021-06061-8