The Importance Of Doctors And Nurses Working Together
The goal of enhancing safety and quality of care in the years to come will rely heavily on interprofessional collaboration. Working as a multidisciplinary team throughout treatment can help lower mortality, patient complications, and unfavorable outcomes. According to statistics, 1 in 10 ten hospitalized patients may encounter an unfavorable experience. The most common risk factors for these occurrences are improper care procedures, lack of communication, and poor documentation.
The Definition Of Interprofessional Collaboration
In the healthcare industry, the act of several professional groups collaborating to improve patient care is known as interprofessional collaboration. Regular discussions and interactions between multidisciplinary professionals are part of this relationship, which is about the knowledge and skills different disciplines provide to healthcare.
Interprofessional collaboration in healthcare settings is challenging since medical practitioners have different views, come from different backgrounds, and have different ways of thinking about problems, all because their specialized fields are founded on contrasting knowledge and traditions. Other elements that directly influence how medical professionals interact with one another are team dynamics, organizational structure, professional conflicts, overall complexity, diversity in the workplace, and the amount of time set out for collaboration.
Advantages Of Collaboration
There used to be a noticeable difference between doctors and nurses. It was a mentality of competing teams, an attitude of "Us" vs "Them." Thankfully, such archaic ways of thinking are disappearing, and a more collaborative, team-based method of providing healthcare has taken its place.
Naturally, this doesn’t imply that all previous barriers have suddenly vanished. Some ingrained behaviors take some time to disappear; they’re relics from a time when the hierarchy paradigm, with the doctor as the head, was crucial. Additionally, it's possible that certain organizations were more effective than others at fostering a collaborative environment. However, organizations must invest in team building and regularly educate their employees.
Collaboration between nurses and doctors improves patient and institutional outcomes, like shorter hospital stays and reduction of the overall cost of treatment, without a decline in functional levels and patient satisfaction. Good nurse-physician relationships improve patient outcomes as well as the happiness of both nurses and doctors. They also give nurses more autonomy.
How To Build Interprofessional Relationships
Create A Partnership Based On Trust
Today, it's crucial to foster collaboration and trust among medical practitioners, including doctors, nurses, and other allied health workers. Everyone must first keep the patient at the forefront and have this goal in mind before focusing on establishing common ground, conducting talks, pooling collective knowledge, and developing trust. It might be helpful to engage in an open conversation if we begin by getting to know one another and valuing what each one brings to the table, and understanding that the patient is the common factor that brings everyone together.
Maintain Open Lines Of Communication
Collaboration calls for equal, nonhierarchical collaboration between nurses and doctors. This relationship is built on honest communication, mutual respect, and trust. Acknowledging and encouraging the special contributions that doctors and nurses bring to patient care is crucial.
Combined Rotation
Combining efforts can improve patient impressions of collaboration and team-based service delivery. Better handoffs and higher patient satisfaction result from it. Rounds might require a lot of time. The rounds move more swiftly when a brief summarizes the patient's condition.
Integrate Mid-Level Service Providers
To help doctors concentrate more on medical decision-making, mid-level providers can engage with nurses to participate in processes and improve collaboration between nurses, doctors, and other medical professionals.
Build a culture of cooperation
Everyone in a medical institution should practice and exemplify collaboration, which begins with the highest-ranking executives. Successful nurse-physician collaboration necessitates a total commitment that’s maintained across the board by the healthcare system. Leaders must promote a collaborative environment and set an example for others to follow. It’s everyone's responsibility to make sure that genuine teamwork is the standard. Active listening, questioning without bias, testing presumptions, and providing feedback are all essential components of a successful paradigm for fostering physician and nurse collaborations.
Take Part In Group Training
It can be helpful to ensure greater collaboration when an emergency scenario arises if the entire healthcare team trains together, possibly in a facility. According to a study, taking part in elevated simulation training led to improved physician-nurse communication and decision-making.
Communication With Mobile Devices
The use of smartphones, which is common in many industries outside of healthcare, must be encouraged between doctors and nurses. Nowadays, doctors communicate a lot with their peers, but this has to increase when it comes to communication with nurses too.
Resist The Impulse To Yell
It's easy to disrupt collaboration by shouting at a nurse who interrupted your meal or sleep by reporting a shift in the condition of a patient. The nurse could put off alerting you the second time the patient's status drastically changes, thereby putting the patient in danger. It's crucial to regulate your tone and volume. The issue should be properly communicated by nurses effectively, and they should be able to respond to inquiries by immediately disclosing all the information. Conflicts will inevitably arise in complicated situations, but both parties must learn how to handle them appropriately.
Although a nurse's individual efforts can make a significant difference in nurse-physician collaboration, there are undoubtedly certain institutional barriers that may still be there. If the culture also permits physicians to react angrily after being offended, an institution must urge nurses to raise concerns about potential inaccuracies or problems.
Conclusion
Remember that other staff members are always watching your relationships with other professionals. You could be interacting with new doctors, residents, nurses, or other new personnel; in that case, you should lead by example, so they understand what positive working interactions look like. It’s also advisable to maintain a positive attitude in intense work situations. One could also lighten the mood by applying humor every now and then.
