Enhancing Interprofessional Communication Through Reflective Practice in Nursing NUR4026

Introduction

Reflective practice is an ideal model every nursing professional should engage in due to the ability of the model to help the practitioner analyze practice experiences with the view of evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of practice encounters. It has been noted that through reflective practice, the abilities and strength of the nurses get boosted in such aspects as clinical performance, and decision-making for the outcomes of the clients. This reflective improvement plan seeks to present a particular clinical concern noticed within the specialty practice, and the following plan will seek to find professional practice improvement strategies based on a reflective model.

The clinical issue I have chosen for self-analysis is the lack of interprofessional communication among the healthcare team that fails to handle patients appropriately and thus, poses a threat to patients well-being. This is very important in healthcare organizations since patients care plans and specific intercessions must be thoroughly shared among all members of a healthcare organization. To tackle this problem, I will apply Gibbs Reflective Cycle an understandable model of reflection that will help me consider the encountered problem, evaluate its impacts, and find ways to improve it.

The purpose of the undertaking of this assignment is as follows: Critically evaluate the literature of the theories in reflective practice as well as in communication in health care, deliberation of current knowledge of the subject area, and establishment of constructive and research-based approaches to the enhancement of communication within my specialty practice. Thus, I envision improving the general quality of patient care as well as being part of efforts to create a safer health system for the patients.

Discussion

Clinical Issue Identification

Communication in my specialty practice also seems to present a major concern whereby there appears to be poor interaction among members of the healthcare team. It has recently shown itself in such aspects as misunderstandings during the shifting of patients, an unclear picture displayed in documentation, and patient care plans not being passed on and described to all the members of the team (Noviyanti et al., 2021). Some results from the above communication breakdowns have led to mistakes in patient handling and, therefore, negative consequences.

Communication is considered one of the key processes, which determine the safety and quality of the provided healthcare services (Knight, 2015, p. 244). The goal is to ensure that all concerned members of the team are informed of the patients status, care regimen, and any revisions in the plan. Lack of communication, in turn, leaves a lot of room for ones imagination and can result in mistakes that can harm a patient. Thus, the solution to this problem is critical for enhancing the outcomes of care provided in my specialty practice.

Certainly, one of the primary situations that I shall illustrate is how the lack of effective communication contributed to the incident that took place at a patient handover. Concerning communication, the outgoing nurse did not pass on important information regarding the patients allergy to a certain medication. Consequently, the incoming nurse medicated the patient and an adverse reaction occurred which would have been averted (Crti??-Buzoianu, Tzafilkou, M??, & Am?l?ncei, 2022). That is why this case showed the requirement of the enhanced communication model and the concept of reflection to search for such problems.

Reflective Model/Theory

For the aimed reflection on the identified issue and the elaboration of potential directions of its improvement, Gibbs Reflective Cycle (Gibbs, 1988) is chosen. Gibbs' model of reflection is commonly used when describing an episode within practice which enables the nurse to undertake a structured account of the practice scenario to foster critical reflection and learning. The model consists of six stages: The six steps involve Description, Feelings, Evaluation, Analysis, Conclusion, and Action Plan.

Description: In this stage, the practitioner is supposed to give details of the given situation or his/her experience. This assists in establishing what aspects of the issue need to be focused on when creating change.

Feelings: This stage entails the aspect of evaluating the feelings and thoughts that were revealed in the course of the discussion (Ahtif & Gandhi, 2022). It gives an understanding of how the matter was reflected on other stakeholders involved in the case of this practitioner.

Evaluation: The evaluation stage as in the case of the above scenario entails the identification of gain or loss implications of a situation (Noviyanti et al., 2021).. Thus it enables the practitioner to find out the positives of the project as well as the areas that need improvement.

Analysis: This stage involves checking several factors that led to the issue; it is one of the critical stages where the practitioner goes deeper into the analysis of the situation. The fundamental causes of the problem must be determined in this stage.

Conclusion: The last stage focuses on the documentation of the reflective analysis which adds the final touch to the reflective summary. It assists in defining what the practitioner would do differently in the future.

Action Plan: The last strategy is the one that creates an action plan that would help in solving the issue that has been noted. This stage is important as it provides the most tangible or actualisable method of organisation improvement as constituted by the reflection carried out at this stage.

The use and application of Gibbs Reflective Cycle is ideal for approaching a problem of poor communication given that it is flexible and holistic in a way that incorporates an analysis of both feelings and thoughts of the concerned experience (Gibbs, 1988). This is the reason why, using this model, I will be able to analyze the failed communication scenarios of my practice and find out how to avoid them in the future.

Critical Literature Review

Longitudinal coordination in healthcare is a well-documented problem, several previous articles stressed an understanding of its effects on the safety of patients and the quality of the services rendered to the patients (Koshy et al., 2017). Interdisciplinary knowledge sharing among healthcare professionals is crucial since it enables elasticity of the result patient care in this case to be timely, safe, and coherent. Nevertheless, effective communication is often absent in healthcare organizations and its lack is the source of mistakes, delays in treatment, and negative effects on a patient's condition (Katz, McPartland, & Rines, 2020).

Therefore, the following arguments, which represent the themes that the literature review identified concerning healthcare communication, are critical to healthcare communication. One such theme is that accurately following communication frameworks like the SBAR has been found to enhance the communication templates distinctness as well as substantially cut healthcare errors (Ghani et al., 2022). Another key theme is the investigation of the successful communication processes provided by interdisciplinary collaboration. Literature has revealed that when personnel in the healthcare field display interprofessional relationships and information sharing, the status of patients benefits (Wain, 2017).

The fifth prominent theme found within the literature is Reflective practice: various stakeholders pointed out the use of Reflective practice in enhancing communication and overall nursing practice in the study conducted by Howatson-Jones (2016). Reflective practice involves viewing the events taking place in any field of practice, and in this case, healthcare, and formulating ways of improving the events or removing the hitches that one comes across. (Abed, Abed, & Shackelford, 2023) further stated that through reflective practice the nurses learn communication skills and indirectly enhance the safety of the healthcare setting.

However, as can be observed from the literature, there is a gap that needs to be filled in the relationship between communication, and reflective practice (Indra, 2018). For instance, there is a significant amount of evidence discussing the efficacy of structured communication tools such as SBAR, but the data regarding how these tools may be adapted to different clinical contexts is very limited (Schumann-Scheel et al., 2017). Moreover, it is also acknowledged that reflective practice enhances communication however there is a gap of knowledge as to its effects in the long run concerning the professional practice (Wain, 2017).

Development of Improvement Strategies

As a result of the reflection and literature review, the following approaches have been figured out to enhance communication within the specialty practice: The present strategies are based on the studies made in the literature and adapted to the problems caused by my practice.

1. Implementation of Structured Communication Protocols: Thus, among the possible approaches to enhance communication, it is possible to single out the use of standardized communication models, like the SBAR tool (Schumann-Scheel et al., 2017). SBAR is a structured format of communication that guarantees that all the necessary information is passed in the right manner. About the use of SBAR in my practice, I am planning to educate each of my team members on how to use it right. Furthermore, I shall create periodic and standard templates so that SBAR is utilized in all handovers and any other transformational exchanges.

2. Promoting Interprofessional Collaboration: Communication can be said to be associated with interprofessional collaboration strictly because, to communicate, several healthcare professionals have to coordinate and share information (Wain, 2017). With regards to interprofessional collaboration, I will schedule meetings and case conferences for effective review of the client care plans and consideration of the input from other team members. These meetings will entail the clarification of issues that could have been blurred by seeing them from the patients angle.

3. Encouraging Reflective Practice: Reflective practice is a useful method to enhance knowledge about interpersonal communication and the work of a specialist (Howatson-Jones, 2016). To incorporate reflection in my specialty practice, I will ensure that the members of the team set a certain time earlier in the week when they can engage in reflection on experiences and possible challenges faced while delivering services. Such sessions will be based on Gibbs Reflective Cycle which offers a set of steps to follow in thinking about the issue. Moreover, I will ask the team members to make reflective journals where they should write down their reflections and the changes that have taken place among them.

4. Developing Communication Skills Workshops: Therefore, to ensure effective improvement of the communication skills among the health care team I will organize the communication skills workshop. These workshops will be based on the aspects of listening, assertive and economical communication, gestures, and choice of words within various clinical environments (Schumann-Scheel et al., 2017). These will be propositional sessions, which will require the participants to properly communicate with fellow members through the use of role plays and other emulation exercises. Further, these workshops will include the evaluation session where the participants can discuss the ways of assessing their interactional patterns to discover the directions for learning.

5. Utilizing Technology to Support Communication: Another good technique that can be used to enhance communication in a healthcare context is the use of technology. For instance, the use of EHRs as well as secure messages ensures that information is communicated to the right people at the right time enhancing the efficiency of the team (Koshy et al., 2017). Based on my understanding of the current communication tactics in my chosen specialty practice, I will also propose recommendations & implementation of an EHR system that will update the real-time status of the patients as well as their care plan. Moreover, for rapid facilitation of messages concerning significant results or changes in the patient status, for instance, changes in lab results, I will promote the use of secure messengers.

6. Establishing Clear Communication Guidelines: Since standardized procedures aim at having members of the team communicate in a similar pattern, it is important for such procedures to set out how information is passed from one person to another. The following processes will describe how individuals will relate with each other, such as how structured communication instruments will be used, what steps when it comes to concern elevation, and how documentation should be done (Knight, 2015). These guidelines will be formulated in consultation with my staff and effective strategies to ensure that the policies are implemented and available to all staff members shall be employed (Lin & Lachman, 2023). These guidelines will be, from time to time, reviewed and discussed during training sessions to keep practitioners in check regarding the concept regarding its real operational environment.

Action Plan

For the effective realization of the proposed improvement strategies, I have designed the follow-up action plan. This specific action plan involves The action that needs to be taken; When the action is to be taken; What other requisites are needed to embark on that action; and The expected result.

Step 1: Training on the Proper Way of Communicating in the Ward

• Timeline: Weeks 1-3
• Resources: Handouts, tools for communication, and protocols also known as SBAR.
• Actions: It is recommended to organize training sessions for all members of the team concerning the usage of SBAR and the developed principles of communication (Mersha et al., 2023). See to it that every employee knows how to work with the tools and remembers their application in context.
• Expected Outcomes: Enhanced the cases when nursing handover is employed or whoever is interacting with patients especially the critically ill.

Step 2: Planning of Interprofessional Collaboration Meetings

• Timeline: Continual or regular (Should have bi-weekly meetings,. )
• Resources: Meeting space, calendars
• Actions: Implement and agree on the frequency of daily interdisciplinary collaboration meetings where the involved professionals can share the plans of patient care and resolve possible communication barriers. Ensure grouping of people leads to an increased flow of information; contribution and participation across the disciplinary divides.
• Expected Outcomes: Introducing the best practices to improve the interaction among healthcare professionals for the benefit of patients.

Step 3: IHL Reflective Practice Sessions

• Timeline: It would be established as an ongoing schedule with monthly training sessions.
• Resources: Reflective questions, pros and cons, or pro forma tools that are related to Gibbs Reflective Cycle.
• Actions: Conduct monthly reflective practice forums in which the team members are allowed to discuss their activities, lessons learned, and how the deficiencies can be prevented in the future (Olde Loohuis et al., 2023). Suggest reflection journals as key functional tools that should be used by the employees as a way of tracking their progress.
• Expected Outcomes: Personal development from the sense-making perspectives and critical thinking of the team members, concerning communication practices constant enhancement.

Step 4: Workshops on Communication Skills.

• Timeline: Weeks 4-6
• Resources: Attending facilitators of the workshop, Role play materials, feedback forms
• Actions: Schedule and facilitate communication skills training sessions for nurses and invest more time in common communication issues like listening skills, body language, and writing strategies (Rasenberg, Brand, & van Weel-Baumgarten, 2023). Ensure the participants are given a chance to apply what they have learned and be corrected on observations if wrong.
• Expected Outcomes: Better interpersonal and formal interactions among the members of the health care team to improve the interactions with the patient as well as the other members of the team.

Step 5 The Deployment of the Identified Technology Solutions

• Timeline: Weeks 7-12
• Resources: IT support, electronic health record system, and enhanced messaging systems.
• Actions: Propose the use of an EHR system as well as the use of secure messengers in the practice. Communicate and train the concerned staff on the proper use of the tools in the organization for communication and other documentation purposes.
• Expected Outcomes: By eliminating the possibility of errors and misunderstandings involving the doctors, nurses, and other personnel dealing with the patients, efficiency and accuracy in conveying messages are enhanced hence promoting the care of the patients (Abed, Abed, & Shackelford, 2023).

Step 6: Monitoring and Evaluation.

• Timeline: Quarterly.
• Resources: Assessment instruments, feedback, scores and measures
• Actions: The strategies should be monitored frequently on their utilization and effectiveness in addressing communication issues and patient care (RODAT, 2022). Obtain feedback from the team members and consolidate them to fine-tune the action plan of the organization.
• Expected Outcomes: Sustained practice improvements in communication processes that are evidenced-based positive on patients safety and care outcomes.

Conclusion

Lack of effective collaboration between the members who are involved in patient care can be a major problem for patient safety and his/her care. It is possible to prevent and manage this problem by doing reflective practice and using knowledge from the scholarly literature to enhance communication among members of the healthcare profession for enhanced patient experiences. Designed by Gibbs Reflective Cycle, this allows a scheme for examining problematic aspects of communication, planning and formulating ways of improvement, and designing an action plan for promoting a culture of reflection and communication enhancement.

The strategies of the structured communication protocols, an increase of interprofessional relations, reflection activities, the organization of communication skills workshops, and the usage of technology within the defined specialty practice area will all serve as useful ideas in my proposed strategies. If I adhere to the action plan and assess the performance of the strategies implemented, I am sure that I will see positive changes in terms of communication and thus raise the safety of the healthcare setting and the efficiency of all the stakeholders.

As can be seen, reflective practice is a continuous activity that cannot be achieved without devotion and the desire to gain knowledge from the encountered events. Healthcare professionals must try and learn how they can develop themselves in their practice not only for the sake of the profession but most importantly for the sake of the several patients we handle day in and day out. Thus, using the aspects of communication, we can find out the deficiencies and come up with a set of strategies for practice development regarding the overall care quality.

Are you struggling to keep up with the demands of your academic journey? Don't worry, we've got your back!
Exam Question Bank is your trusted partner in achieving academic excellence for all kind of technical and non-technical subjects. Our comprehensive range of academic services is designed to cater to students at every level. Whether you're a high school student, a college undergraduate, or pursuing advanced studies, we have the expertise and resources to support you.

To connect with expert and ask your query click here Exam Question Bank