Health Care Teams and Collaboration Term Paper

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Health Care Teams and Collaboration

Delivery system of a health system depends on numerous interfaces and multiple practitioners. There are different health care practitioners in a health care institution depending on their field of practice and their level of education. During a four-day period in a health care institution, a patient may have a chance to interact with 50 different employees of the institution. These employees are nurses, physicians, technical staff and others. For efficiency of nursing practice, critical information communications need to be accurate and precise. Therefore, this means that team communication and collaboration are essential. If teams in a healthcare organization do not communicate, the patients are at risk of injury or death due to poor care (Reeves, Zwarenstein & Goldman, 2009). Lack of a clear communication structure in the institution may result to medical errors. A medical error may occur because of lack of critical information or misinterpretation of the same information.

In today's healthcare organizations, medical errors caused by communication inefficiencies are a threat to patients. A report prepared by the Joint commission (JCHAO) states that medical errors are among the major causes of death in the healthcare system. According to the Institute of Medicine report of the year 1999: "To Erris Human: Building a safer Healthcare system." Approximately, 44000-98000 individuals die every year because of medical errors. The Joint commission explains that the root causes of these errors are due to communication problems within teams. These forms of errors may be a delay in treatment post of operative falls or events or wrongful surgeries. Medical education wishes to promote error-free diagnosis and treatment (Cooper, 2011). Therefore, an error in a medical practice may mean failures in the health care system.

Interdisciplinary and Intra-disciplinary Teams

Interdisciplinary in nursing would involve individual from a variety of fields, for example, nurses, surgeons or physicians. Intra-disciplinary, nevertheless, centers on one occupation in healthcare, for example, nurses. Functions of each member are crucial for patient's recovery.

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Efforts of all team members are essential for quality services in a healthcare institution. Therefore, communication interlinks these members. Communication is the interchange of thoughts, opinions, and signs or in writing among people. Information flow by way of mouth, use of expression or signs, however, crucial information passes by way of writing. Handwritten notes, text messages or emails, can lead to consequences in case of miscommunication (Reeves, Zwarenstein & Goldman, 2009).

Communication Skills Held By Successful Teams

Successful teams need communication skills among members. The communication skills include means at which a professional can pass information to patients and other team members. Some of the skills held by team members are writing, reading, phone etiquette and speech. Collaborative health care or teamwork is where professionals complement their roles, carry out plans for patients and share the responsibility of making decisions and solving problems (Cooper, 2011). Collaboration efforts of nurses, physicians and other professionals encourage awareness among team members leading to an improvement in making decisions. An effective team values respect; trust, collaboration and it is crucial that the team acts together to achieve a common goal while having the same aim. An inter-disciplinary approach differs from the multidisciplinary approach where an individual is responsible for one task only. However, an interdisciplinary approach promotes joint efforts of practitioners on behalf of the patient. Collaboration of these specialized services leads to joint interventions. The patient finds it easier to communicate in a cohesive team than with numerous medical professionals.

There are many hurdles to overcome in order for teams to gain collaborative status. These kinds of hurdles include lack of confidence, lack of awareness or knowledge and skills held by these professionals. The first step towards overcoming the challenge is the change in attitude, feelings to attain mutual respect. The components of a successful team are clear direction, open communication, a safe environment and clearly defined tasks for….....

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