Introduction
It is important to note that interdisciplinary collaboration can be used to achieve desired patient and systems outcomes. The given report focuses on the analysis and assessment of the interview conducted with the nursing colleague, where key organizational issues were identified. The emphasis will be put on incorporating evidence-based practice within an interdisciplinary team by exploring the ways in which change management theories and leadership strategies can enable interdisciplinary teams to achieve specific organizational goals.
Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Desired Patient and Systems Outcomes
The interview was primarily on my nursing colleague’s description of the organization, primary duties, organizational issues, leadership actions, and interdisciplinary collaboration. She stated that the key problem was poor implementation of projects on the top management’s orders and weak interprofessional communication. She works as an APRN and perceives that the nursing staff lacks any means to communicate their problems to the managers and other professionals.
The literature provides insight into the collaborative approaches that could be relevant in establishing or improving an interdisciplinary team to address an organizational issue. In the case of the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle, the framework focuses on small-scale testing for large-scale implementation. It “is shorthand for testing a change in the real work setting—by planning it, trying it, observing the results, and acting on what is learned. This is the scientific method adapted for action-oriented learning” (Institute for Healthcare Improvement, 2022, para. 3). The identified best-practice interdisciplinary collaboration strategy is empowerment based on the grounded theory. The strategic approach is seeking connectivity, which explains “how nurses and their manager’s exercised power, and how seeking connectivity either hindered or fostered nurses’ ability to feel empowered in the work setting” (Udod & Racine, 2017, p. 5). In other words, it applies to communication and its impact on the patient, interdisciplinary team, and systems outcomes.
Ways to Incorporate Evidence-Based Practice Within an Interdisciplinary Team
The organizational issue derived from the interview revolves around poor interprofessional communication, which leads to the flawed integration of new practices by the management. Therefore, the evidence-based interdisciplinary approach to empowerment would be appropriate. Under the given framework of collaboration, power is not exercised solely by the individual on top but rather by all team members. The latter creates a condition where a failure to assess, understand or correct a system flaw is immediately addressed by other team members. In other words, nurses no longer become powerful followers of orders from the top but rather an additional layer of checkpoints. The empowerment strategy of collaboration is a multilayered framework of various professions that hold similar levels of power in directing the change. As a result, the impact of empowerment on patients and system outcomes is massive. No issue reaches the patients or damages the entire system because it is quickly prevented or stopped during the implementation process by every member of the interprofessional team.
Change Management Theories, Leadership Strategies, and Communication Strategies for Interdisciplinary Teams to Achieve Specific Organizational Goals
The relevant leadership strategy is based on the Person-Centered Situational Leadership Framework or PCSLF, which would improve the team’s ability to achieve its goals. PCSLF “captures seven core attributes of the leader … connecting with the other person in an instant; intentionally enthusing the other person to act … and unifying through collaboration, appreciation, and trust” (Lynch et al., 2017, p. 427). It is evident that Josh from corporate was not connecting with the IT department, and he did the opposite of enthusing them to act to the point where IT employees did the bare minimum. In addition, the entire interdisciplinary team lacks any form of trust, appreciation, and collaboration. Therefore, PCSLF and its seven constituents and core elements will comprise the strategy.
The proposed change theory is Lewin’s model of organizational change. Any organizational change involving major procedural and culture changes must adhere to a specific and evidence-based framework. The selected format is Lewin’s change model, which focuses on three phases such as unfreezing, changing, and freezing (Abd el–shafy et al., 2019). The first phase requires ensuring the readiness of the organization and the involvement of all stakeholders. The key reason is that unfreezing all already established patterns and rules of operations need to be made more receptive to novel introductions and alterations. The second phase is focused on incorporating and integrating the written statements as a core aspect of the practice. In other words, as soon as the medical center makes the necessary preparation for new procedural directions, the intervention needs to be incorporated quickly and effectively. Any delays in the integration process can cause unnecessary confusion among employees and patients, damaging organizational performance and quality of care.
The third phase is designed to solidify the changes by turning them into the center’s protocols of care and organizational policies. In short, the novel interventions and transitions in how the medical center operates must become a new norm with no unaccounted drawbacks. The key target improvement healthcare process and systems changes revolve around introducing the Akan language to improve communication, patient satisfaction, safety, quality of care, and cost-effectiveness. The framework is based on a targeted improvement of the healthcare process and system changes. These revolve around the introduction of the Akan language to improve communication, patient satisfaction, safety, quality of care, and cost-effectiveness. It is reported that “language barriers in healthcare lead to miscommunication between the medical professional and patient, reducing both parties’ satisfaction and decreasing the quality of healthcare delivery and patient safety” (Al Shamsi et al., 2020, p. 1). In other words, the leadership and managers need to be aware of the potential ramifications of failing to address the underlying problems in the healthcare delivery process to the target population.
The focus should be put on the nurses specifically because they are the ones who interact and provide direct care to patients. Therefore, their performance most accurately reflects on and determines the quality of care, patient satisfaction, and the overall image of the organization. In the case of leadership, direct communication through the empowerment of the nursing staff needs to be conducted on an individual level. The emphasis will be put on identifying the points of dissatisfaction and mismanagement to improve adherence to the quality standards.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the healthcare processes reliant on interprofessional collaboration are essential procedural elements of any medical facility. It is evident that empowerment through Person-Centered Situational Leadership Framework impacts patient safety as well since interprofessional communication contains fewer barriers due to extensive measures practiced and implemented as the result of such competency increases. Thus, it is vital for healthcare professionals as well as managers of healthcare organizations to be conscious when it comes to the efforts and leadership put into improvement processes in healthcare.
References
Abd el -shafy, I., Zapke, J., Sargeant, D., Prince, J. M., & Christopherson, N. A. M. (2019). Decreased pediatric trauma length of stay and improved disposition with implementation of Lewinʼs change model. Journal of Trauma Nursing, 26(2), 84–88. Web.
Al Shamsi, H. Almutari, A.G., Al Mashrafi, S., &Al Kalbani, T. (2020) Implications of language barriers for healthcare: A systemic review. Oman Medical Journal, 35(2), 1-9. Web.
Institute for Healthcare Improvement. (2022). How to improve. Web.
Lynch, B. M., McCance, T., McCormack, B., & Brown, D. (2017). The development of the Person-centered situational leadership framework: Revealing the being of person-centeredness in nursing homes. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 27(1-2), 427–440. Web.