Question

Employees of XYZ hospital are divided by the area of the hospital and there is a little cross over- the staff of the ICU tend to socialize with their team, the staff of Emergency department don't converse with other departments. It has now gotten to the point that those nurses who work the night shift don't really have anything to do with those work with day shift and nurse managers are noticing that it is affecting the patient reports at shift change. The lack of communication outside of work is now transferring to a lack of communication for work-related tasks as a result, patient safety is at risk. This issue is not only communication but employees also do not seem motivated to improve upon the feedback given on their lack of communication. Suppose you are a unit manager and have been tasked with putting in place to help improve their communication and lack of motivation. List and clearly describe 3 strategies you might use as a manager in this situation. Please make sure to specifically mention the scenario in your strategies.

Answer 1

Some of the strategies which can be implemented to improve better communication are

• For instance there are novice staff on the floor they may lack the effective communication with the co staff. This can be overcome by assigning these novice staff under the guidance and supervision of a senior staff. This automatically builds communication between the novice staff asking for doubts and queries and the senior staff clarifying it. This creates a "communication friendly space" very strongly when they make patient care decision together and improved quality care.
• "Educate and train the staff " regarding the need of communication .For instance when there is a transfer of patient from one unit to other .It us mandatory for one staff to give a complete detail regarding patient status and treatment and the staff who receives the patient should cross check in order to get complete order. This can reduce medical errors and improve quality care just because of trained communication
• Conduct group discussion and reward them ,this can simply help them to be self motivated and get rid of any conflicts and misunderstanding .