4010 assessment 2: Interdisciplinary Issue Identification-interview Analysis
Interdisciplinary Issue Identification: Interview Analysis
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Using Interdisciplinary Collaboration to Achieve Desired Patient and Systems Outcomes
Summary of the interview
As a school nurse, I promote health by giving students appropriate healthcare services. Interviewing colleagues in the health department uncovered the degree of collaboration to achieve positive outcomes. In this qualitative interview, the interviewer collected data using open-ended questions. The interview began with formulating questions based on a set of objectives. According to Elhami and Khoshnevisan (2022), open-ended questions give an interviewee the freedom to give as much information as possible. In this case, the interviewer read questions orally and recorded the responses. The approach is beneficial as it allows face-to-face interaction with the respondents. After reading the responses, I generated follow-up questions to collect additional data (Elhami & Khoshnevisan, 2022).
Issues identified
The interview uncovered two issues that affect patient experiences and system outcomes. First, the respondents agreed that there was insufficient collaboration in the team. The psychologist suggested the team should work together from when the nurse receives a patient to final treatment. The social worker uncovered that many parents lacked health insurance. Therefore, it was difficult for students to access advanced care from outdoor healthcare facilities. The objective of this interview was to improve students’ overall health. Data from the interview showed that team members needed open communication to strengthen cooperation as they cater to students’ healthcare needs.
Collaboration approaches
Open communication could improve collaboration in the team. In an ethnographic study published in 2023, Rudberg, Olsson, Thunborg, and Erikson postulate that open communication minimizes interdisciplinary differences that compromise cooperation in a team. The authors add that effective communication fosters trust, respect, and friendliness among colleagues. As a result, they develop a sense of shared identity in a team. Trust relationships motivate team members to cooperate to formulate and implement solutions to problems (Rudberg et al., 2023).
Creating a managed clinical network is another way of promoting collaboration in the team. Martin and Dixon-Woods (2022) define managed clinical networks as regulated systems that link healthcare providers within and outside their facilities. The networks promote open dialogues among members as they share knowledge. The authors add that the networks eliminate communication bureaucracies to support the timely dissemination of information. Enrolling professionals in such networks motivates them to cooperate to provide exemplary healthcare services (Martin & Dixon-Woods, 2022).
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Incorporating Evidence-based Practice within an Interdisciplinary Team
The psychologist and nurse explained the need for holistic care. The social worker explained that the lack of health insurance is a problem affecting many families in the community. Driftland and colleagues (2022) refer to such an interaction as collaborative learning. The team agreed to improve collaboration to provide holistic care to students. Members noted that working independently shifted focus from direct and indirect causes of a problem to treating symptoms. However, the team uncovered an urgent need to address the issue of health insurance. Lack of health insurance would block students from accessing relevant care from external health facilities. According to Alderwick, Hutchings, Briggs, and Mays (2021), collaboration in healthcare improves the quality of care. The cooperation between healthcare and non-healthcare professionals yields comprehensive case plans that address patients’ diverse needs. The authors add that collaboration in an interdisciplinary team shifts the focus to treating the patient as a whole. The care options would prioritize diverse factors that compromise health. Such factors include socio-economic conditions and policy issues (Alderwick, Hutchings, Briggs & Mays, 2021). Therefore, professional partnerships in a team provide different approaches to a health issue and holistic solutions.
Change Management Theories and Leadership Strategies
Different change theories could help the team to develop optimal solutions to its issues. Lewin’s theory involves planned change. In the unfreezing phase, the theorist recommends informing team members about the reasons for change (Barrow, Annamaraju & Toney-Butler, 2022). The send phase entails implementing change. In the third phase, refreezing, the management establishes a new normalcy. Lippitt’s model postulates steps for implementing change successfully. In the first phase, the model insists on the importance of informing people of the need for change. In the second stage, the leadership should establish a relationship between agents of change and the organization. The third phase is describing the change regarding the causal factors. The fourth phase is setting goals and objectives. After executing the changes, the leadership must stabilize employees to minimize the risk of resistance. Finally, a leader must align the system with change to ensure organizational culture reflects the new behaviors (Barrow, Annamaraju & Toney-Butler, 2022).
Changes in healthcare and the increasing diversity of patient needs require organizations and healthcare providers to revise their procedures and skills regularly. According to Nilsen and colleagues (2020), leaders should implement change to solve health issues. Often, employees resist change when it contradicts their needs and threatens their job security. However, a leader should implement different strategies to motivate team members to adapt to the changes (Nilsen et al., 2020). At the end of the interview, members highlighted the need to change the communication policy. Such a change aims to support an integrative assessment of sick students and determine appropriate healthcare plans. Jango (2024) states that change is necessary for the success of diverse teams. However, it is critical to align people’s needs with the change. In this scenario, training team members on effective communication would prepare them for changes in communication policy. However, they highlighted some of their needs that the administration should address. They requested resources to support remote interactions. For instance, the social worker needed a reliable smartphone to connect with parents and colleagues. The nurse and psychologist needed a common platform for interacting when treating and monitoring students. Providing resources is a way of supporting staff during the process of change. Also, it is an effective way of mitigating resistance to change (Jango, 2024).
Conclusion
Interviewing the nurse, school psychologist, and social worker highlighted factors compromising holistic care. The team agreed that open communication is an effective way of achieving interprofessional collaboration. The members added that regular training will improve their communication skills and strengthen cooperation. They concluded that collaboration should extend beyond the school environment to maximize care outcomes. Parents and family members offer financial assistance when a student requires treatment from outdoor health facilities. Healthcare professionals from external facilities join the school’s healthcare team to design a holistic care plan for students. Implementing these interventions sets a path for organizational changes. Team members should prepare for change and embrace new behaviors to improve performance.
References
Alderwick, H., Hutchings, A., Briggs, A., & Mays, N. (2021). The impact of collaboration between local health care and non-health care organizations and factors shaping how they work: A systematic review of reviews. BMC Public Health, 21(753). https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-021-10630-1
Barrow, J., Annamaraju, P. & Toney-Buttler, T.J. (2022). Change Management. Florida: StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK459380/
Driftland, C.H. et al. (2022). The role of collaborative learning in resilience healthcare-a thematic qualitative meta-synthesis of resilience narratives. BMC Health Services Research, 22(1091). https://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12913-022-08451-y
Elhami, A. & Khoshnevisan, B. (2022). Conducting an interview in qualitative research: The modus operandi. MEXTESOL Journal, 46(1): 1-7. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1333875.pdf
Jango, J. (2024). Leadership and management of change: Introduction to navigating organizational change. EuroMed Journal of Management, 6(1): 57-71. DOI:10.1504/EMJM.2024.10060497
Martin, G. & Dixon-Woods, M. (2022). Collaboration-based approaches. Cambridge Elements: Improving Quality and Safety in Healthcare. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/collaborationbased-approaches/484CCE97E2ADCC4F4D79C81E3E822BF6
Nilsen, P., et al. (2020). Characteristics of successful changes in healthcare organizations: An interview study with physicians, registered nurses and assistant nurses. BMC Health Services Research, 20 (147). https://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12913-020-4999-8
Rudberg, I., Olsson, A., Thunborg, C. & Erikson, M.S. (2023). Interprofessional communication in a psychiatric outpatient unit-an ethnographic study. BMC Nursing, 22: 286. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-023-01446-y. Do my Capella FlexPath report
