According to Buppert (2011), quality improvement and patient safety are inextric

Question

According to Buppert (2011), quality improvement and patient safety are inextricably intertwined. A work environ­ment that sup­ports teamwork and respect for other people is essential to promote patient safety and quality of care. Unprofessional behavior is disruptive and adversely impacts patient and staff satisfaction, the recruitment and retention of healthcare professionals, communication, teamwork and undermines a culture of safety. Unprofessional behavior is therefore unacceptable.

Discussion Question:

How does teamwork increase patient safety? Provide evidence and rationales to support your decisions.

Explanation / Answer

Teamwork in health is defined as two or more people who interact interdependently with a common purpose, working toward measurable goals that benefit from leadership that maintains stability while encouraging honest discussion and problem solving.

Health teams are often made up of a variety of professionals – called cadres in health care – each with specialized knowledge and responsible for different tasks. These multidisciplinary teams are made up to solve health problem.

Teamwork became an important health intervention for a number of reasons. First, clinical care is becoming more complex and specialized, forcing medical staffs to attempt complicated health services and quickly learn new methods. Aging populations, the increase of chronic diseases like diabetes, cancer, and heart disease have forced medical staffs to take a multidisciplinary approach to health care. Secondly, researchers have found that working together reduces the number of medical errors and increases patient safety.

Teamwork also reduces issues that lead to burnout. No longer is one person responsible for the patient’s health; today, an entire team of health workers comes together to coordinate a patient’s well-being . Health teams help break down hierarchy and centralized power of health organizations, giving more leverage to health workers.

Third, because teamwork is centered on solid communication, patients and their families sometimes feel more at ease and report they accept treatments and feel more satisfied with their health care. Health workers are also found to be more satisfied with their work.

According to research compiled by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the Department of Defense (DoD), evidence of the benefits of improved team performance can be seen within the military. In the mid-1980s, 147 aviation fatalities occurred in the U.S. Army. The failures were attributed to errors in crew communication, workload management, and task prioritization. The army developed a coordination training and evaluation system that saved 15 lives and $30 million annually.

In 1990, the Navy studied teamwork and team training interventions using a program known as TADMUS (Tactical Decision Making Under Stress). This program increased understanding of team knowledge, skill, and attitude requirements; provided reliable and valid measures of team processes and outcomes; and developed new training strategies for enhancing teamwork

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse A
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.