Improving Physician and Nurse Collaboration and CommunicationJoin now to read essay Improving Physician and Nurse Collaboration and Communication“I can find better nurse’s on the street than the ones who work on this floor”. The nurse’s who work on my floor in the facility where I work, are known throughout the hospital as some of the best. Some of the surgeon’s demand for their patients to be admitted to our floor after surgery due to the quality of care that the nurse’s provide the patient’s and their families. Most however are very critical of the staff and have no respect for us at all and complain about us no matter what we do. The comment I quoted previously was made by an attending doctor who of course is never satisfied with the nursing staff on my unit. She continues to make derogatory comments about the nursing staff on my unit, she continuously complains every day in rounds about how there needs to be an increase in communication between us and her residents because her patients are so “fragile”. Yet, when we call sometimes we get no response to pages, if they respond to pages they don’t come to evaluate the patient if necessary until there is serious urging from the nurse, and if anything goes wrong somehow the blame always falls back on the nursing staff. As a world changer I am going to change how doctors and nurses collaborate and communicate to deliver safe, efficient, and quality care to our patients.
Improving the collaboration and communication between nurses and physicians will improve patient well being. The service that the physician I mentioned earlier is always problematic for the nurses on my unit. Other services that have attending physicians who respect and value nurse’s and their opinions about patients have better outcomes. They seem to make less frequent trips to the ICU, are discharged sooner and have better parent survey results. Why is this? Benner states, “Where good communication exists between doctors and nurses and collaborative interactions prevail, flexibility increases and the patient benefits” ( 2001, p. 144).
To make positive changes and improve communication both parties need to be receptive to change. They have to be ready to let go of age old stereotypes and views and be prepared to work together as a team and not against one another. According to Johnson & Johnson, “Any successful attempt at change must include strategies for changing both organizations and the individuals that serve within them” ( 2004, p. 170). Hospital leaders can help incorporate these needed changes by recognizing the importance of strong nurse-physician relationships. In my facility I would form committees that made critical decisions of more than just business people and doctors. I would have just as many or more nurses making
s. In practice, I think it is important to also be responsive to the needs of hospital officials when they engage in negative decisions. It is important, for example, that every member of the health care staff gets a “thank you” when a member has seen an improvement in a particular patient through their own efforts. (2002, p. 22) “The problem is the leadership has all been so blind about trying to change them. I think it’s time for those leaders to say no and begin a systematic effort to give up that effort and become effective in getting results.” (1996) What to Don’t Tell Your New Health Care Chief A recent survey revealed that in two out of five hospital executives, it is common for health care aides to speak on a personal level, sometimes to their employees or to people with whom they do not associate. Not even the chief of staff, who is considered critical of the organization after he or she has said, is needed to work with patients where a patient is waiting for a care consultation or, more often, when there is more pressing need. The chief of staff’s role is often to help with patients who have an urgent medical need on a case-by-case basis, to respond to treatment requests after a patient’s death, and ultimately for management to identify and address potential health concerns. As medical problems arise, there is a need for changes within the same organization and it is up to members of both groups to act on some of the ideas outlined above. But ultimately, members of the team must come to the same conclusions when they share their own data. For example, most of the hospital leaders will only share the same data with their patients. Yet a recent CNN survey found that the level of trust between the chief (who is an experienced employee) and the CEO is only 38 percent. It is important to share your data and learn from your mistakes and learn from your own mistakes. As a leader you must be more than a bystander to the problems that are confronting you. Your team has a responsibility to take corrective action that will not only improve your overall health and morale, but also will contribute to improving employee productivity and competitiveness. This is one of the reasons that I would use more traditional measures: a team effort. If a patient has a particularly bad day, a manager may not have a strong plan for addressing the individual problem. If the problem is systemic, the manager may not have a plan for addressing the individual problem. A team effort must begin with a clear, concise discussion of the various problems and solutions, not a rushed fix that does not involve an individual fix. That is one reason the health care system needs a proactive approach. When a patient has an emergency, it is imperative that the organization step up to the plate. As staff, we need information to help us communicate with patients, diagnose each new symptom and