Effective communication is an important aspect in any organization. Within the healthcare profession, communication and collaboration among healthcare givers is essential as it facilitates the patient's safety and health. Patients interact with a team of healthcare professionals during their visit to the hospital. If their health information is miscommunicated or misinterpreted, patients could suffer in significant ways from getting the wrong medicine or care instructions to being overlooked, and in worst-case scenarios, they could even die because of medical errors. Healthcare professionals must, therefore, understand and practice effective communication if they wish to create and facilitate interprofessional collaboration and communication. Understanding the different elements of communication and collaboration in healthcare organizations, being culturally competent, and knowing the strategies one can best use in the promotion of interprofessional collaboration will help the healthcare professionals to foster effective communication within the organizations.
There are six critical elements that facilitate effective interpersonal communication. First, there must be a minimum of two people who will be communicating with each other (Interpersonal communication; A first look, n.d). Of the two, one is the sender of the message, and the other is the receiver of the message. The message is the next element which is the information that is conveyed by the sender to the receiver. The third component of effective interpersonal communication is noise (Interpersonal communication; A first look, n.d). Noise is important as it helps people understand why information can be distorted to ensure the sender and receiver of the message avoid such pitfalls.
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The fourth component of effective communication is context. Context is the environment in which the communication occurs in which must be considered if people wish to have effective interactions (Interpersonal communication; A first look, n.d). Another important component is feedback, which is the information that one receives when they send a message to the receiver. Feedback is important as it helps in informing the sender whether their message was received and understood (Interpersonal communication; A first look, n.d). The final necessary component of effective communication is a channel or medium. This is the element that interpersonal communication occurs through (Interpersonal communication; A first look, n.d). For effective interpersonal communication to occur, people must be well aware of these components to ensure they consider them to avoid miscommunication.
Interprofessional collaboration in the workplace is an important aspect that facilitates organizational efficiency and success. Interprofessional collaboration is defined as a state where various health care workers from unique skilled backgrounds work in association with families, communities, and caregivers to enhance the quality of care that the patients get (Vertino, 2014). Interprofessional collaboration is important because it allows various healthcare professionals to examine the patient and offer their unique perspective on the case (Vertino, 2014). This ensures the patient gets a more holistic diagnosis that will foster their quick recovery. Interprofessional collaboration also helps in reducing medical errors in healthcare organizations (Vertino, 2014). When these professionals fail to collaborate with one another, they are likely to experience communication gaps, which can result in medical errors that might lead to a patient's death.
Interprofessional collaboration also leads to reduced healthcare costs and inefficiencies (Vertino, 2014). When the professionals communicate frequently and effectively, they bridge the gap, thus help in doing away with operational inefficiencies and redundancies. The interprofessional collaboration will also ensure the patients start their treatment faster. Healthcare professionals consult with each other before offering a diagnosis, which may lead to delayed treatment (Vertino, 2014). Interprofessional collaboration ensures it bridges the communication between the patient's team of healthcare practitioners, thus enabling the patient's quick access to a suitable treatment plan. Finally, this collaboration could also be beneficial as it facilitates job satisfaction and helps improve staff relationships (Vertino, 2014). The collaboration between healthcare practitioners helps in establishing the idea that each professional is valuable and contributes to the overall health of the patient.
Applying components of interpersonal communication to interprofessional collaboration
The elements of interpersonal communication can be linked with interprofessional collaboration to ensure that healthcare workers have effective communication in their workplace. Healthcare workers must ensure that when they establish interprofessional communication, they establish the intended recipients of the information that they will be sharing. This will allow them to send and receive vital information about the patient's health. Next, these professionals must decide which information or message they need to share that will help in the diagnosis of the patient. The information they choose to share will determine the efficiency of the collaboration by bridging the existing communication gap (Interpersonal communication; A first look, n.d). These healthcare professionals also need to ensure that they do away with noise that may distort the message they share. This will ensure that the receiver of the information gets a clear message that will use to make their work easier.
The professionals should also be wary of the context in which they share the information to avoid instances of distortion or miscommunication. These professionals must also strive to relay feedback once they receive the messages sent to them (Interpersonal communication; A first look, n.d). This feedback is what helps to fuel the interprofessional collaboration among the healthcare workers. Finally, the professionals must also ensure that they select an effective medium through which they send and receive the messages (Interpersonal communication; A first look, n.d). This can be through the EHR systems since they allow secure sharing of information and do not compromise the integrity of patient records. When healthcare professionals consider these six elements when implementing interprofessional communication, they are likely to benefit from increased collaboration and organizational efficiency.
Strategies to promote interprofessional collaboration
There are a few strategies that healthcare providers can use in endorsing interprofessional collaboration in the healthcare institutions. The healthcare workers can aim to improve on their communication practices as the healthcare community is based on the ability to communicate the needs of the patient (Bridges et al., 2011). When professionals streamline their communication practices, they will reduce miscommunication and foster interprofessional collaboration. They can also look for ways to enhance respect and trust among the various healthcare professionals (Bridges et al., 2011). Each healthcare practitioner needs to understand their position and role in the patient's healthcare continuum to ensure they help the patients get better. This can be done by educating the various professionals on how best to respect one another while also prioritizing their tasks (Bridges et al., 2011). This will help in breaking the existing unequal power and autonomy that exists in the profession to bring about effective interprofessional collaboration.
Effective strategies for building interprofessional teams
Effective interprofessional teams in healthcare organizations will aid in realizing better patient outcomes and organizational collaboration. An effective strategy that can be utilized in building interprofessional teams is group coaching (Donner & Wheeler, 2008). This is a strategy where the different healthcare professionals work under a team leader or coach who oversees their work as they try to solve a clinical project. This gives the different teammates a chance to work collaboratively and advance their collective practices through action and reflection (Donner & Wheeler, 2008). Another strategy that can be used is scheduling opportunities for interprofessional education in different professional schools (Cortes, 2019). This strategy allows different professionals the chance to study both the traditional curricula and interprofessional education (Cortes, 2019). This then results in professionals who are well versed in the interprofessional practice. It then becomes easier to form interprofessional teams with these individuals as they understand the requirements and factors that facilitate effective interprofessional teams.
Cultural competence
Cultural competence is vital in establishing and facilitating interpersonal collaboration and communication in the workplace. The US is projected to become a majority-minority by 2044, where Hispanics and Asians are expected to have gradually increased to double its population in 2012 (Kumra et al., 2020). This statistic, therefore, shows the need to develop cultural competence in the healthcare organization. Interpersonal cultural competence is the capacity of health care providers to develop interpersonal working relations with their peers and patients (Kumra et al., 2020). With the increased diversity in the US, being culturally competent will enhance the care given to the patients and increase communication among employees. Since healthcare practitioners work as teams, having a team of culturally competent professionals will foster collaboration among themselves, thus enhancing the diagnosis and treatment plans for the patients (Kumra et al., 2020). As such, having a team of culturally competent healthcare providers increases relatability and understanding among the health practitioners, thus fostering collaboration and effective communication.
Conclusion
Effective communication in the workplace is beneficial as it helps in the realization of organizational success and collaboration. In the healthcare setting, effective communication ensures that patient safety and privacy is maintained. Understanding the various components of effective communication helps in enhancing communication among the patient's team of healthcare providers. These teams of healthcare professionals must be built and facilitated to last to ensure that they are not only culturally competent with the patients but also with each other. This will help foster respect and appreciation for the team members and their unique roles in the patient's healthcare journey. Overall, understanding effective communication will help in bridging the existing gaps in the healthcare system, thus facilitate collaboration among the various healthcare professionals.
References
Bridges, D., Davidson, R. A., Soule Odegard, P., Maki, I. V., & Tomkowiak, J. (2011). Interprofessional collaboration: three best practice models of interprofessional education. Medical education online, 16(1), 6035. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3081249/
Cortes, T. (2019). Building Interprofessional Teams Through Partnerships to Address Quality. Nursing science quarterly, 32(4), 288-290 . https://sci-hub.tw/https://doi.org/10.1177/0894318419864343
Donner, G. J., & Wheeler, M. M. (2008). A strategy for building interprofessional teams. The Canadian Nurse, 104(3), 37. https://search.proquest.com/openview/5822f884070eee8fc1568e3e04093952/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=41610
Interpersonal communication; A first look. (n.d). https://www.fd.unl.pt/docentes_docs/ma/AGON_MA_25847.pdf
Kumra, T., Hsu, Y. J., Cheng, T. L., Marsteller, J. A., McGuire, M., & Cooper, L. A. (2020). The association between organizational cultural competence and teamwork climate in a network of primary care practices. Health care management review, 45(2), 106–116. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6345619/
Vertino, K. A. (2014). Effective interpersonal communication: A practical guide to improve your life. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 19(3), 1-6 . https://ojin.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Vol-19-2014/No3-Sept-2014/Effective-Interpersonal-Communication.html
