1. Known Benefits of Communication and Team Collaboration
1.1. Structured communication techniques can serve the same purpose that clinical practice guidelines do in assisting practitioners to make decisions and take action.
1.2. Research shows that in these disciplines, the adoption of standardized tools and behaviors is a very effective strategy in enhancing teamwork and reducing risks
2. Team collaboration is essential. When health care professionals are not communicating effectively, patient safety is at risk for several reasons: lack of critical information, misinterpretation of information, unclear orders over the telephone, and overlooked changes in status
2.1. Background
3. Crew Resource Management (Aviation)
3.1. From a practical standpoint, CRM programs typically include educating crews about the limitations of human performance. Trainees develop an understanding of cognitive errors and how stressors (such as fatigue, emergencies, and work overload) contribute to the occurrence of errors.
3.2. Operational concepts stressed include inquiry, seeking relevant operational information, advocacy, communicating proposed actions, conflict resolution, and decisionmaking.
4. Practice Implications
5. Kaiser Permanente, SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation) Tool, 2002
5.1. SBAR is an easy-to-remember tool used to create mechanisms useful for framing any conversation, especially critical ones, requiring a clinician’s immediate attention and action. It allows for an easy and focused way to set expectations between members of the team for what will be communicated and how, which is essential for information transfer and cohesive teamwork
5.2. The person initiating the communication knows that before they pick up the telephone, they need to provide an assessment of the problem and what they think an appropriate solution is. Their conclusion may not ultimately be the answer, but there is clearly value in defining the situation.
6. What Are Communication and Team Collaboration?
6.1. Webster’s Dictionary defines communication as “the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information by speech, writing, or signs.”
6.2. Collaboration in health care is defined as health care professionals assuming complementary roles and cooperatively working together, sharing responsibility for problem-solving and making decisions to formulate and carry out plans for patient care
7. Research Evidence
8. Barriers to Effective Communication
8.1. Culture barriers can also hinder nonverbal communication. For example, some cultures ascribe specific meaning to eye contact, certain facial expressions, touch, tone of voice, and nods of the head.
8.2. Issues around gender differences in communication styles, values, and expectations are common in all workplace situations
9. Establishing Culture To Support Communication and Team Collaboration
9.1. One of the first crucial steps is organizational commitment and willingness to address the situation. Commitment needs to come from the top down and bottom up, making a statement about the way the organization does business. The rallying point should be around behavioral standards and their relationship to patient safety.
9.2. The next step in the process is recognition and self-awareness
9.3. Creating opportunities for different groups to just get together is a highly effective strategy for enhancing collaboration and communication. These group interactions can be either formal or informal
9.4. Developing and implementing a standard set of behavior policies and procedures is vital.
9.5. For the process to unfold, the organization needs to encourage its employees to report disruptive behaviors.
