Summary of Area of Interest
The selected area of interest for this study is the nature of communication in different healthcare settings. Over the years, many professionals have ignored this attribute despite being a powerful aspect of medical practice. Medical institutions whose leaders promote effective communication among their followers find it easier to solve emerging challenges and improve the level of coordination. The purpose of this study is to expand this topic and understand how nurses, family members, and patients can improve the way they relate with one another. The targeted research will focus on how to maximize the health experiences and outcomes of the greatest number of patients.
Problem Statement
Medical professionals use their competencies to design personalized care delivery processes and establish teams depending on the needs of the targeted individuals. They apply emerging evidence, theory, and clinical guidelines to offer high-quality support. Unfortunately, most of these practices have failed to meet the needs of more patients. Leaders ignore the importance of introducing appropriate initiatives and cultural values that have the potential to improve the effectiveness of the healthcare sector. The problem of ineffective communication remains a major challenge in different units (Dang & Dearholt, 2018). This issue has triggered additional obstacles in many organizations, such as ineffective teams, poor decision-making procedures, and burnout. These predicaments explain why the suggested research can present evidence-based insights to improve the quality of nursing practice.
Problem Background
The nature of communication in each unit dictates how nurses and caregivers meet the medical needs of their patients. When individuals are unable to cooperate and pursue a common goal, chances are high that they will ignore the effectiveness of the established care procedures and create room for medication errors. Sentinel events might also occur since the practitioners will not be working together. Emerging differences will worsen since the existing environment does not allow nurses and physicians to solve problems amicably. Portney (2020) argues that poor communication remains one of the major causes of poor health outcomes and preventable deaths in different medical facilities.
Stakeholders
This study involves several stakeholders whose roles can be instrumental in changing the situation. The first group is comprised of organizational leaders and managers who should consider the nature of this issue and propose superior measures to address it. The second category of stakeholders is that of all medical professionals whose goals and experiences depend on the nature of communication (Feo et al., 2017). The third group is comprised of patients and community members who expect to receive high-quality services from their respective health units.
Clinical/Practice PICO(T) Question
The PICO(T) question formulated for the proposed study is: In patients suffering from a disease (P), does effective communication between nurse, patient, and family (I), compared with not communication (C), allow for better results in inpatient recovery(O) within the admission period (T)?
Literature Review
The introduction of effective support programs to improve the way caregivers communicate amongst themselves can transform the nature of the nursing practice. Leaders need to be involved in an attempt to guide their followers and encourage them to develop the relevant skills (Dang & Dearholt, 2018). These developments will maximize the wellbeing of the targeted patients and re-pattern their energy levels. Such beneficiaries will find it easier to overcome stress and achieve their spiritual, mental, and physical health outcomes. When physicians and nurses communicate positively, they will connect positively with their patients and be willing to identify their key problems. These procedures will maximize their emotional well-being and involve different family members. The strategy will ensure that more practitioners are ready to apply the concepts of transcultural nursing to provide competent care.
Caregivers need to focus on the patient and consider evidence-based strategies to maximize his or her experiences. These professionals will find it easier to overcome some of the barriers to effective care, including ineffective decision-making, personal differences, abuse, violence, or insubordination (Feo et al., 2017). The occurrence of these issues will affect the psychological experiences of the targeted patients negatively (Nisa et al., 2017). The possible outcome is that the level of patient satisfaction will decrease. These attributes explain why different scholars and researchers support effective communication as a powerful concept for improving the quality of care available to different patients.
Proposed Intervention
The best intervention that can support the intended study is the introduction of evidence-based measures that will encourage nurses, family members, and patients to communicate efficiently throughout the care delivery process. The institution can consider the importance of educational materials aimed at encouraging and guiding more practitioners to embrace the power of effective communication (Feo et al., 2017). They will extend the practice to include their patients and encourage family members who can offer the relevant support to remain involved. This intervention will go further to allow key stakeholders to be involved to improve the level or nature of communication.
Setting
The targeted setting for the proposed study is a healthcare unit providing both inpatient and outpatient medical services. The facility will have caregivers, practitioners, nurse leaders, and health managers. The unit will also identify patients who are expected to participate throughout the study period and benefit from effective communication.
Barriers
Several barriers have the potential to disorient or affect the success of the proposed study. Firstly, the introduction of the new educational program means that a change model will be necessary. Portney (2020) believes that many people will always be opposed to change since it will disorient their goals and comfort zone. Secondly, the issue of time might affect the nature and success of the proposed project. This outcome is possible since the majority of the stakeholders will be involved in critical processes aimed at improving the experiences and outcomes of the targeted patients.
Ethical Considerations
Ethical considerations are necessary whenever pursuing a study involving human subjects. The first issue is ensuring that informed consent is obtained from all individuals who will be selected to participate throughout the study. The second issue is getting the required permission from the leaders of the institution (White et al., 2019). These considerations will ensure that the final results are practical and capable of improving how nurses and other health professionals communicate whenever providing high-quality services to their patients.
Expected Outcomes
Several outcomes are anticipated that have the potential to change or improve nursing practice. Firstly, more practitioners and caregivers will be ready to promote effective interpersonal communication in their units. Secondly, communication will become the best guiding principle in every medical unit or facility. Thirdly, more patients will record increased levels of satisfaction. Finally, an evidence-based concept will emerge that will be instrumental in transforming the nature of care delivery in the health sector.
Action Plan-Identify Critical Milestones and Tasks
- Initial phase: Planning and gathering information.
- Analysis: Examining the validity of the project and liaising with different stakeholders.
- Implementation: Launching the intended project and getting results.
- Review: Studying the acquired insights and making them part of the unit.
EBP Model
The use of an evidence-based model (EBP) becomes a new opportunity for introducing effective communication among nurses, caregivers, patients, and family members as a powerful strategy for improving care delivery processes. The consideration of such an initiative will ensure that the selected facility becomes a leading provider of high-quality medical services to all patients. The inquiry, practice, and learning model will guide all practitioners and leaders to acquire insights from the completed study and introduce them to the selected hospital. In conclusion, this framework will transform the nature of care available to members of the community.
References
Dang, D., & Dearholt, S. (2018). Johns Hopkins nursing evidence-based practice: Model and guidelines. Sigma Thera Tau International.
Feo, R., Rasmussen, P., Wiechula, R., Conroy, T., & Kitson, A. (2017). Developing effective and caring nurse-patient relationships. Nursing Standard, 31(28), 54-62.
Nisa, S. N. U., Hussain, M., Afzal, M., & Gilani, S. A. (2017). Quality of nurse-patient therapeutic communication and overall patient satisfaction during their hospitalization stay. European Academic Research, 7(3), 1970-2011.
Portney, L. (2020). Foundations of clinical research: Applications to evidence-based practice. F.A. Davis Company.
White, K., Dudley-Brown, S., & Terhaar, M. (2019). Translation of evidence into nursing and healthcare. Springer Publishing Company, LLC.