Effective communication involves a good flow of information amid different departments, individuals, and the organization to the outside world. It takes effective communication to see an organization relate well with the customers, government, and have a good working environment. Lack of effective communication leads to incomplete tasks, lack of customer satisfaction, conflicts, and extra expenses in an organization. Healthcare facilities must adhere yto the rule of effective communication to excel.
Interpersonal Communication
Communication is an important skill that boost trust between healthcare workers. However, communication has to be both proficient and effective for it to serve this purpose. As a subcategory of communication, interpersonal communication is defined as the communication that occurs between two people in the context of their relationship. It helps to negotiate and define the relationship” ( Smith & Shauna 2013 ). Interpersonal communication between a patient and a care provider promotes not only quick recovery but also a better healing environment. In addition, interpersonal communication amid two professionals makes work easier and creates inter-reliance
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
There are a number of interpersonal components namely; the sender, receiver, channel, and the message. Smith & Shauna (2013) the sender and the receiver require to participate, listen, and think creatively to acquire productive results in a discussion. It promotes positive interaction and a healthcare organization and easy creation of strategies of promoting healthcare. It promotes utilization of ideologies from different people and the implementation of a consultation-based solution. Interpersonal communication should be accompanied by verbal and nonverbal cues such as active listening, positive body language, friendliness, and the issuance of feedback.
In healthcare provision, interpersonal communication occurs between practitioners and their patients as well as with each other. An example is the sharing of information between general practitioners and cardiologists. Apart from the sharing of data, consultancy is a common practice. It is not uncommon to find nurses seeking advice from each other and this helps them understand more about particular problems and patient histories.
Inter-professional collaboration is defined by the World Health Organization as a process where two or more workers with varied professional backgrounds partner in attending to patients, families, or community members. Interprofessional collaboration cannot occur in the absence of communication. Inter-professional collaboration requires keen consideration as compared to interpersonal communication. According to Kleber & Cohen (2020) , the sharing of data in a healthcare organization enables each professional to understand when to act and the appropriate step to take without interrupting another area of specialty (Kleber & Cohen, 2020). In a hospital setting, inter-professional collaboration should take place between ED doctors, radiologists, and cardiologists to determine the extent of a patient problem. The effort makes it easy to come up with a solution of the patient problem and a defined schedule of how different departments will attend to the patient.
Interprofessional collaboration helps improve patient outcomes, reduces costs, improves job satisfaction, and saves time at the hospital. First, input from multiple individuals with different professional backgrounds helps reduce the chances of errors occurrence. The patients benefit when medical issues are viewed from varied perspectives. Secondly, interprofessional collaboration enhances risk management. In turn, less resources are used to investigate sentinel events and to implement new policies. Thirdly, when healthcare workers collaborate, it levels the playing field and hence every team-member feels appreciated. Finally, when medical practitioners collaborate in their efforts, less time is spent in a single diagnosis and this allows staff members to attend to more patients.
Interprofessional communication can be developed by using congenial verbal and nonverbal cues as well as through the adoption of modern channels of communication. For instance, in a healthcare setup, this can be implemented by ensuring that the use of foul language is restricted and that the use of gestures becomes commonplace. This will ensure that interpersonal relationships are built for the benefit of patients. The utilization of social media platforms to connect different professionals will help improve levels of collaboration (Kleber & Cohen, 2020).
Strategies to Promote Interprofessional Collaboration
Interprofessional collaboration is enhanced through interdepartmental training sessions, the abolition of regressive hierarchical structures, and building interprofessional teams. In healthcare, professional training sessions are conducted based on one’s discipline. more sessions of professional training are required, and all medical staff should be encouraged to attend other departments’ programs. This will allow everyone to understand one other’s workplace challenges and strengthen interpersonal connections. The focus should be on the patients’ welfare and this will limit interpersonal conflicts.
Recommended approaches to build interprofessional teams in healthcare is to focus on goal setting, open communication, and encouraging diversity. Objectives of team formation should be clear and communicated in advance. In addition, team formation should not discriminate based on discipline, rank, ethnicity, sexual preference, gender, or race.
Cultural Competence
In healthcare, cultural competence allows the provision of services to patients with diverse customs, values, and behaviors. As a culturally competent establishment, Mayo Clinic Hospital has a diverse workforce. Diversity eases interprofessional and patient-physician communication. Cultural competence can be improved by encouraging minority groups like African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latinos to apply for open job positions.
Conclusion
To limit the incidence of sentinel events, healthcare organization are encouraged to prioritize effective communication. At Mayo Clinic Hospital, this can be achieved by developing interpersonal communication, interprofessional collaboration, and cultural competence. To achieve these targets, the organization’s leaders should encourage congenial verbal and nonverbal cues, the use of modern technology, interdepartmental training sessions, the abolition of regressive hierarchical structures, the development of interprofessional teams, and cultural competence.
References
Kleber, Julie & Cohen, Bevin (2020) Reducing Waste and Increasing Sustainability in Health Care Settings AJN, American Journal of Nursing . 120(4):45-48
Smith, Mike, and Shauna Buckley. (2013) "Collaborative working." Emergency Nurse
