Management - Final Project Milestone Two

INITIATIVE PROPOSAL Final Project Milestone Two: Initiative Proposal Performance Improvement Initiative Merlino made a statement about Patient Safety and Quality that mentions, “communication is the cornerstone of healthcare” (Merlino, 2017). Having effective communication with healthcare providers in any type of healthcare setting is crucial it should be a main priority that each patient’s needs are being dealt with appropriately. The better the communication is the better the patient safety and quality will improve. When you have lack of communication or failure to communicate with your fellow work associate or patient’s this can cause problems within the healthcare facilities. Poor communication impacts all healthcare departments, it can affect their workplace culture, teamwork, leadership roles, and even patient safety. Failing to communicate for patient care is important as it puts the patients care and safety in danger and may affect all professionals in the facility as this is important to make sure everyone is communicating appropriately and making sure patient safety is number one priority. A good initiative that could be used to benefit the healthcare employees is to do training and daily meetings regarding communication skills, this should be something that is mentioned during each hiring process as well as regularly going over the importance of using good communication skills with both co-workers and patients. INITIATIVE PROPOSAL Communication skills in a healthcare setting are very important. Healthcare facilities use patient care and patient hand off that The Joint Commission created using the standards of care and accreditation to meet the mandatory requirements. The Joint Commission made a National Patient Safety Goal in 2010. The standard the was made through the Joint Commission was called the Provision of Care standard, this standard required that organization’s process for handoff communication provides for the opportunity for discussions with the provider and patient when it comes to giving patient information. Any information that is giving may or may not be used such as patient’s condition, treatment, care, services, medications, or any updated changes (The Joint Commission, 2017). A good way to make sure that the proper team meetings and training on communication skills is to offer surveys that can be given to patients, caregivers, and staff members. This would be used to collect data and information how a patient felt the providers level of care and communication with the patient as well as the visit and stay at the medical facility. The surveys can also be used for staff and employees felt about the communicating with the patient, along with other employees of the facility. After the information and data is collected, they can use this to have a meeting and discuss the situation, find a way to improve, and answer any questions or concerns. This can be a good way to improve the line of communication with patients and staff members for communication for patient hand off. Implementation of the Plan in the Organization INITIATIVE PROPOSAL For meetings and training on communication skills to be successful they need to be sure they involve all healthcare facility departments, so no one is left out. This will include all staff members and employees from Nurses, Doctors, and on up to Management leaders. It is crucial for everyone to work together to improve communication and grow the accomplishment of patient handoff standards. According to Patient Safety Quality Health there are some ways they can be used in order to help improve the level of communication and improve a plan that will best benefit both patients and the healthcare facility staff. First, they should consider using a SBAR techniques, SBAR stands for situation, background, assessment, and recommendation. This is used as a guide for staff and providers line of communication such as changes in patient status or needs. This should be used to communication with each other regarding the patient and their status. This is a good tool to use when bringing up improving team communication and the importance of patient safety and care (Dingley, Daugherty, & Derieg, 2008). Another way it to do communication skills training for all members of the healthcare facility. This can help with creating huddles or meetings for good and effective communication skills, these need to be taught, practiced, and monitored to be sure effective communication is taking place with not only patients but also staff members. The last important thing to keep in mine is using leadership support for communication. Leaders need to make sure they have a line of open communication by showing the appropriate way of communication such as behavior, expectations, and other support systems that can be used. The leadership and management teams should always be sure to promote INITIATIVE PROPOSAL patient-centered communication, as this is a requirement for giving safe and quality of care (Milano, 2017). When using these initiative approaches it can improve the patient care and safety outcomes. A good example for these outcomes when following the recommended approaches to improving communication is. A patient is being released from the care of the medical facility if the line of effective communication is done between the patient, provider, and caregiver it lowers the chance that the patient will return for another visit. If appropriate communication is used the patient will be able to understand the instructions given upon release and know the importance of follow ups and be mindful of their own health. This is a good example of effective communication; ineffective communication would be no instructions given and not discussing any follow up plans. The best way to improve patient handoffs and grow on the effectiveness of communication in healthcare facilities. Using great communication skills can lower the tension between healthcare professionals and patients and help them understand how to better improve on patient quality care. Medical professionals need to improve their level of communication with their fellow co-workers, management, leaders, patients, and caregivers so everyone is receiving the same answer, and nothing is missed regarding patient status and conditions. This can improve all levels of communication if they work together and be sure to open lines of communication.