Leadership & Clinical Governance-Free-Samples-Myassignementhelp

Question: Examine and Critically discuss the evidence related to the Impact of Effective Communication on maintaining Patient Safety. Answer: Globally, there has been a recent increase in escalating costs and demands across all healthcare organizations. The major challenges faced by caregivers and health professionals working in a healthcare setting are a fiscal constraints, increased demand for access to health resources, high client expectations, and issues that violate patient safety and quality of care being provided (Mannix, Wilkes Daly, 2013). Thus, effective governance is imperative to maximize appropriate care delivery services. This is achieved by demonstrating clinical leadership that ensures high quality health care system. To achieve positive health outcomes, clinical leaders need to demonstrate adequate competence and skills, which will help them to communicate with the multidisciplinary clinical groups existing in a healthcare unit (Hutchinson Jackson, 2013). This essay will illustrate the effects of effective communication by nurses on patient safety and will also reflect on an incident that will demonstrate the adverse events that occurred due to miscommunication with a patient. Impact of effective communication on patient safety- Nurses often act as the forefront of healthcare delivery system by being directly involved in providing a holistic and client-centered care to them. Thus, they play a crucial role in identifying the health status of patients, supporting them and preventing the occurrence of any adverse events. Nurse leaders are therefore responsible for building alliances and connections across the healthcare setting by fostering effective communication among the patients, family, caregivers, key stakeholders and the administration (Cousin et al., 2012). The positive effects of communication skills on the capacity of patients to cope up with chronic disorders and show better outcomes have been demonstrated by several research evidences conducted in the past decades (Cooper et al., 2012). The ability of a nursing leader to listen, explain, and empathise with the client creates deep-rooted impacts on the health outcomes and patient satisfaction. Most studies have provided evidence that the ineffective communication acts as the major cause of inadvertent patient harm. Failure to communicate appropriately leads to transfer of inadequate and ambiguous information, faulty exchanges and lack of effective information exchange (Daly, Speedy Jackson, 2015). Thus, improving communication is considered to be of utmost priority for enhancing patient care quality (Radtke, 2013). It has been proved by studies that effective interaction between team members leads to an increased work efficiency and clinical outcomes, reduction in workloads and adverse drug events, elimination of chances of medication errors, lowering of patient morbidity, and improved satisfaction of both the nurses and their clients. Communication skills are essential for nurses because they spend a considerable amount of time with their clients (Bramhall, 2014). It is integral to develop rapport with patients in order to promote holistic patient care. Efficient communication leads to the establishment of supportive relationships. This view has also been supported by other study, which states that active listening, demonstration of compassion towards patients are more likely to increase positive patient experiences (Shirley Sanders, 2013). Evidences for the positive impacts of communication skills on patient outcomes were demonstrated by another mixed methods study that evaluated the effects of the SAGE and THYME foundation level workshop (Connolly et al., 2014). SAGE and THYME refers to a mnemonic that helps in structured conversation with distressed people. SAGE stands for setting, ask, gather, and empathy. It brings the person into the conversation. THYME encompasses talk, help, you, me, and end. It helps in bringing them out of the conversation. The results demonstrated that non-verbal communication skills, structured conversations and verbal behavior were successful in eliciting positive patient responses. The positive impacts of communication on patient safety were also supported by a study that suggested communication failures often lead to negative health outcomes due to medication errors (Brock et al., 2013). Adequate training of inter-professional healthcare teams helps in increasing positive attitudes and knowledge among the patients and reduces incidence of adverse health outcomes among patients suffering from asthma, tachycardia, congestive heart failure and seizures. A similar view was opined by authors of another study who considered communication to be the hallmark of safe delivery in perinatal units (Lyndon et al., 2011). Nursing leaders, who are attentive, respectful towards patients and competent to communicate with the physicians, efficiently prevent chances of errors in care delivery and help to safeguard a patient. Hierarchical differences, lack of administrative support and weak collaboration among professionals are some of the challenges to effective inter-professional communication (Doyle, Lennox Bell, 2013). Data from other studies also state that lack of proper framework to facilitate verbal communication, differing opinions among nurses and frequent distractions also violate patient safety (Coelho Galan, 2012). Intimidating behaviours are responsible for causing errors in mediation, adverse health outcomes and poor patient satisfaction. This in turn increases hospitalisation costs and creates dissatisfaction among the patients and their family members (Cummings et al., 2010). Reflection on an incident related to ineffective communication- In this part I intend to reflect on a situation that occurred during the first year of my clinical practice, which gave me the opportunity to understand the importance of effective communication in patient care. This incident occurred when an elderly patient Mandy (pseudonym) was admitted to the ward where I was assisting my mentor and involved miscommunication between the nurse-in-charge and the patient. The concerned nurse failed to demonstrate adequate communication skills, which created difficulties for Mandy to perform tasks such as toileting, undressing and self-feeding. Failure of the nurse to identify the non-verbal gestures shown by the patient made her restless and she suffered a fall from the bed. This led to several bruises on the latters arms and legs. To prevent occurrence of this incident in near future the nurse-in-charge put up a patient bed side board. This facilitated easy communication between the patient, her family members and the concerned staff in the ward. The RN started to communicate about all events that happened during that shift by writing instructions on the board. She reassured Mandy that proper care would be taken by holding the latters hands and putting an arm around her shoulder (Daly, Speedy Jackson, 2015). She further used simple, short sentences, maintained a low voice pitch, an eye contact and paid attention to the cues that suggested that Mandy was overwhelmed by the caring behaviour shown towards her. Styles and characteristics of clinical leadership- All nurses are expected to exhibit powerful leadership skills in a hospital setting that helps them to achieve their goals. There are several recognised styles of clinical leadership. For instance, the transactional leadership makes the senior nurses promote compliance to the followers, generally the junior staff by punishments and rewards (McCleskey, 2014). A transactional leader focuses on organisation, supervision and team performance. They pay attention to all staff in order to find flaws and deviations. This leadership style proves effective in crisis situations. The transformational leadership style focuses on building relationships with staff and motivating them through a shared vision. Such leaders increase the confidence and inspire the workers to improve their performances (Garca-Morales, Jimnez-Barrionuevo Gutirrez-Gutirrez, 2012). This helps them to earn the loyalty and respect of the staff. However, they often overlook the job details. A democratic leader encourages open discussion and participation of all nursing staff during the decision making process. The staffs are entitled with the responsibility of giving feedback on clinical performance. They emphasise on quality improvement of the patient care. Although it leads to a slower decision-making process, this leadership increases job satisfaction (Bhatti et al., 2012). On the other hand, the authoritarian leaders rely on personal knowledge and make decisions without considering staff input. This result in negative reinforcement and the leaders do not tolerate mistakes. They blame individuals for any faults in the nursing care and withheld critical information from the team (Schuh, Zhang Tian, 2013). However, the positive aspect of this leadership is its role in controlling emergency situations. Conversely, an emotionally intelligent leader is self-aware and exhibits empathy, social skills, motivates the staff, and is able to regulate personal feelings (Heckemann, Schols Halfens, 2015). Such leaders are able to stay in control and assess any emergency situation in a calm manner. They do not blame others for any mistakes and rather hold themselves accountable for any adverse incidents in the care setting. Providing empathy to the team and giving constructive feedback helps them to earn respect. Similarly, charismatic leaders are noted for their abi lity to motivate and inspire the staff to show commitment towards the organisation and perform better (Vlachos, Panagopoulos Rapp, 2013). This form of leadership relies on the persuasiveness of the leaders and they share similarities with the transformational leaders. On the other hand, the Laissez-faire leadership style makes the leaders provide negligible direction or supervision to the staff. They take a hands-off approach and rarely make decisions. Thus, the staff are left to meet their goals without any assistance and it is often manifested by leaders who area about to end their careers (Furtner, Baldegger Rauthmann, 2013). Clinical leaders need to exhibit certain characteristics that will help them improve the team performance. They should be respectful and fair towards the staff and should treat them in an equitable manner. Enforcing cooperation and assisting the workers in their individual work also promotes team work (Mannix, Wilkes Daly, 2013). The leaders should be compassionate, and should exhibit the qualities of humility, courage, honesty, commitment, passion and sincerity. This helps them to earn respect and become a good leader. These observable attributes help them to listen, consult and involve all workers while implementing a plan and establishes rapport with the team members (Leggat Balding, 2013). Thus, confronting conflicts, using shared decision-making and developing effective communication networks helps in building a good working environment. Thus, my experience at the ward helped me understand that the nurse had initially displayed a lack of communication skills, which eventually led to violation of the patient safety. I understood that our nursing profession requires us to be responsible for the person who are ill and are unable to advocate for themselves. Therefore, we need to effectively utilize our interpersonal communication skills in order to support the emotional, spiritual and psychological development and needs of our patients (Daly, Speedy Jackson, 2015). The incident helped me to gain an understanding of the fact that a display of poor communication can directly lead to the occurrence of avoidable medical errors, as was seen in the aforementioned incident. I also understood that such errors increase stress, burnouts and poor job satisfaction among nurses (Boldy et al., 2013). The nurse in this case was a democratic leader. It was quite effective as we all felt valued and attempted to give our best in future p ractice. Furthermore, she displayed honesty in recognising the flaws and showed commitment towards providing the patient positive health outcomes. I will talk openly about the cultural taboos that might contribute to reluctance of clients to share their difficulties. I will learn how to respectfully disagree to the decisions of a client and his/her family members and will maintain composure in all situations. I will recognise my strengths and weakness and will negotiate different tasks based on individual interests and strengths. This will increase my problem solving capability (Radtke, 2013). I will also try to become an active listener and ply close attention to what my patients say. Avoiding unwanted interruptions in the conversation and showing empathy towards them will facilitate easy management of the patient. I also wish to improve my understanding of non-verbal cues such as, body language and facial expression that will assist me to better connect with my patients and provide them holistic care. Taking regular feedback from the patients and their family will also help me to identify any wrong practices that have been followed and will provide me with an opportunity for future improvement (Cousin et al., 2012). To summarise, it can be stated that effective communication is critical to patient safety. A failure to communicate with patients efficiently, creates harmful effects on their health status, increases risks of adverse events and leads to poor patient outcomes. This creates difficulties in maintaining patient safety. The accurate and unbroken transmission of important information is therefore essential in healthcare settings. A communication initiative must be successfully implemented in order to promote patient safety. This can be achieved by the exhibition of clinical leadership skills by nurses, which depends on integration of leadership practice and clinical expertise. Clinical leaders help in facilitating strong collaboration and communication with the patients, as well as the multidisciplinary teams operating in a healthcare setting. Thus, it can be concluded that good communication skills create positive relationships, prevent adverse events and help in safeguarding a patient. References Bhatti, N., Maitlo, G. M., Shaikh, N., Hashmi, M. A., Shaikh, F. M. (2012). The impact of autocratic and democratic leadership style on job satisfaction.International Business Research,5(2), 192. Boldy, D., Della, P., Michael, R., Jones, M., Gower, S. (2013). Attributes for effective nurse management within the health services of Western Australia, Singapore and Tanzania.Australian Health Review,37(2), 268-274. Bramhall, E. (2014). Effective communication skills in nursing practice.Nursing standard,29(14), 53-59. Brock, D., Abu-Rish, E., Chiu, C. R., Hammer, D., Wilson, S., Vorvick, L., ... Zierler, B. (2013). Interprofessional education in team communication: working together to improve patient safety.BMJ Qual Saf,22(5), 414-423. Coelho, K. R., Galan, C. (2012). Physician cross-cultural nonverbal communication skills, patient satisfaction and health outcomes in the physician-patient relationship.International journal of family medicine,2012. Connolly, M., Thomas, J. M., Orford, J. A., Schofield, N., Whiteside, S., Morris, J., Heaven, C. (2014). The impact of the SAGE THYME foundation level workshop on factors influencing communication skills in health care professionals.Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions,34(1), 37-46. Cooper, L. A., Roter, D. L., Carson, K. A., Beach, M. C., Sabin, J. A., Greenwald, A. G., Inui, T. S. (2012). The associations of clinicians implicit attitudes about race with medical visit communication and patient ratings of interpersonal care.American journal of public health,102(5), 979-987. Cousin, G., Mast, M. S., Roter, D. L., Hall, J. A. (2012). Concordance between physician communication style and patient attitudes predicts patient satisfaction.Patient education and counseling,87(2), 193-197. Cummings, G. G., MacGregor, T., Davey, M., Lee, H., Wong, C. A., Lo, E., ... Stafford, E. (2010). Leadership styles and outcome patterns for the nursing workforce and work environment: a systematic review.International journal of nursing studies,47(3), 363-385. Daly, J., Speedy, S., Jackson, D. (2015).Leadership and Nursing: Contemporary Perspectives. Elsevier Health Sciences, 1-19. Doyle, C., Lennox, L., Bell, D. (2013). A systematic review of evidence on the links between patient experience and clinical safety and effectiveness.BMJ open,3(1), 001570. Furtner, M. R., Baldegger, U., Rauthmann, J. F. (2013). Leading yourself and leading others: Linking self-leadership to transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership.European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology,22(4), 436-449. Garca-Morales, V. J., Jimnez-Barrionuevo, M. M., Gutirrez-Gutirrez, L. (2012). Transformational leadership influence on organizational performance through organizational learning and innovation.Journal of business research,65(7), 1040-1050. Heckemann, B., Schols, J. M., Halfens, R. J. (2015). A reflective framework to foster emotionally intelligent leadership in nursing.Journal of nursing management,23(6), 744-753. Hutchinson, M., Jackson, D. (2013). Transformational leadership in nursing: towards a more critical interpretation.Nursing inquiry,20(1), 11-22. Leggat, S. G., Balding, C. (2013). Achieving organisational competence for clinical leadership: the role of high performance work systems.Journal of health organization and management,27(3), 312-329. Lyndon, A., Zlatnik, M. G., Wachter, R. M. (2011). Effective physician-nurse communication: a patient safety essential for labor and delivery.American journal of obstetrics and gynecology,205(2), 91-96. Mannix, J., Wilkes, L., Daly, J. (2013). Attributes of clinical leadership in contemporary nursing: an integrative review.Contemporary nurse,45(1), 10-21. McCleskey, J. A. (2014). Situational, transformational, and transactional leadership and leadership development.Journal of Business Studies Quarterly,5(4), 117. Radtke, K. (2013). Improving patient satisfaction with nursing communication using bedside shift report.Clinical Nurse Specialist,27(1), 19-25. Schuh, S. C., Zhang, X. A., Tian, P. (2013). For the good or the bad? Interactive effects of transformational leadership with moral and authoritarian leadership behaviors.Journal of Business Ethics,116(3), 629-640. Shirley, E. D., Sanders, J. O. (2013). Patient satisfaction: implications and predictors of success.JBJS,95(10), e69. Vlachos, P. A., Panagopoulos, N. G., Rapp, A. A. (2013). Feeling good by doing good: Employee CSR-induced attributions, job satisfaction, and the role of charismatic leadership.Journal of business ethics,118(3), 577-588.