Interprofessional cooperation and collaboration are some of the key instruments of providing high-quality medical services. It ensures the safety of both doctors and patients and facilitates the job of healthcare providers at all levels and settings (Reeves et al., 2107). The quality of the communication between the medical personnel, as well as the mutual trust of the participants in the collaboration process, lowers the chances of wrong or inaccurate treatment.
The emergency and primary healthcare settings are extremely important for the healthcare system of any country. The doctors who work there possess actual knowledge and practical experience almost in every area of medical services. They are often those who establish the patient’s diagnosis and prescribe treatment (Bekkink et al., 2018). Communication and collaboration between the members of emergency and primary care units are key factors in saving the patient’s life.
When speaking about the individuals working in the emergency field, it is possible to single out several members of a standard unit. As a rule, it consists of several medical professionals, such as specifically trained healthcare providers, specialist nurses, and drivers and operators, who coordinate the actions of different emergency teams. One emergency unit has all the equipment and skills to provide a patient with immediate assistance and treatment. The structure of a primary healthcare unit, however, is more complicated. As a rule, it includes such specialists as a physician, nurse practitioners, community pharmacists, dietitians, x-ray and lab technicians, dentists, chronic disease management clinicians, and other healthcare providers. It is necessary to note that the structure of primary healthcare teams varies depending on the location of healthcare institutions. However, safe and secure communication and cooperation strategies should be observed despite the number of team members or the size of the hospital (Clark, 2021). That is why it is important for all health professionals to be honest, precise, and competent during the communication process, as well as to trust and respect each other.
The present essay will focus mainly on emergency team communication since it is harder to establish in- and between-team cooperation in this area due to the high mobility of the units. The most common issues related to the communication process in the medical emergency field are high acuity, work overload, swiftly changing healthcare teams, interpersonal relationships, hierarchy, lack of training, and personal factors (Bekkink et al., 2018). The latter includes the team member’s inability to cope with stress or emotions. Fear and the lack of self- or team confidence belong to this category as well. All the issues listed above may prevent doctors from establishing an accurate diagnosis and prescribing the right treatment. Apart from that, work overload and high acuity mean that doctors do not have much time to spend on every patient, which again means that medical professionals may not have enough time to treat all the patients accordingly.
In order to minimize the risks of mistreatment, it is necessary for all members of the emergency team to work smoothly and accurately. The best way for the team members to perform well-coordinated work is to communicate with each other without any prejudice, bias, or disrespect. To do that, it is necessary for them to observe certain rules of interpersonal communication. They include identifying current methods of treatment, assessing barriers and possible negative outcomes for the patient’s health, giving everyone a voice, and encouraging mobile collaboration (Clark, 2021). It is important for the medics to stick to the rules of safe communication in order to prevent imperfect information exchange between the team members and not to put patients at risk.
Apart from the collaboration rules mentioned above, it is necessary for healthcare professionals to ensure the quality of interpersonal communication with each other and with the patients as well. The first and most important one is making communication a part of the corporative culture of the institution and encouraging the medical personnel to prioritize face-to-face communication (Clark, 2021). This method of interpersonal interaction reduces the chances for misinterpretation of information vitally important for the patient’s health and safety. However, healthcare providers should not completely exclude technical tools of communication as they help quickly transmit information if needed and are one of the key means of communication between operators and medical emergency teams.
Providing safe and accurate communication in medical units is just half of the successful in-team collaboration. The other half concerns the ability of the team leaders to preserve the trust and transparency of the communication process. In order to do that, team leaders implement different techniques and exercises aimed at developing trust and respect among the team members. The most common ways to teach medical personnel to communicate with each other the right way concern formal training on cooperation and interpersonal interaction (Bekkink et al., 2018). They may be conducted either by the healthcare institution itself or by any other organization, and it is necessary for all members of the medical emergency unit to participate in them. It is also the responsibility of the team leader to exclude and prevent any personal bias in communication among members of his unit in order to avoid conflicts that may harmfully influence his work.
When speaking about communication in healthcare, it is important to consider such aspects as the interaction between healthcare providers, patients, and their families. Thus, medical personnel should be able to communicate not only with each other but with the patients and their family members as well. Apart from that, the relationships inside the team influence the success of the communication process with others since the doctors and nurses who understand each other well are more likely to explain their point of view to the patient (Reeves et al., 2017). It happens so because they do not try to prove right to each other but do their best to ensure the patient’s understanding of the diagnosis and recommendation on the treatment process. Thus, the communication between healthcare providers and patients should be plain, precise, accurate, clear, and respective from both sides.
Considering all mentioned above, it is possible to conclude that interpersonal communication in a medical emergency is one of the key parts of successful treatment. It ensures fruitful interaction between doctors and patients and provides the latter with an understanding of the disease they have. However, there exist a lot of limitations in this sphere that, in many cases, prevent successful communication and cooperation both inside and outside of the medical emergency unit. It is the responsibility of the team leader to reduce the probability of their appearance or, at least, minimize the risk of conflicts between the members of the unit. In order to do that, they may either attend professional training together with other members of the team as well as by regular practice of face-to-face communication skills both inside and outside of the team.
References
Bekkink, M. O., Farrell, S. E. & Takayesu, J. K. (2018) Interprofessional communication in the emergency department: Residents’ perceptions and implications for medical education. International Journal of Medical Education, 9, 262-270.
Clark, M. (2021). Improving communication in healthcare teams: 9 easy ways. Etactics. Web.
Reeves, S., Pelone, F., Harrison, R., Goldman, J. & Zwarenstein, M. (2017). Interprofessional collaboration to improve professional practice and healthcare outcomes. The Cochrane Database of systematic reviews, 6(6).