Civilian Best Practices, Capstone Project Example

The Effectiveness of Team STEPPS as it Compares to Civilian Best Practices

Discussion

In reviewing the results for the study, there are various factors that play a part in the development and implementation of successful collaborative programs in health care teams. This includes participation from management and staff, retraining of staff in the programs’ objectives, and programs that imply incentives to reward team players. These elements in the practiced methodology encourages a perspective to increase the organizational effectiveness of the health care setting. This demonstrates the multifaceted quality of this process in which health organizations are noticing that team effectiveness, collaboration, and efficiency are significant in addressing critical issues in the health care organization. Undoubtedly, collaboration obliges organizing aggregate activity out of the communications between diverse positions of professionals, between these experts and a hierarchical structure, and in addition between these two elements and the various encompassing structures (Leggat, 2007). The activities that create organizational policies in health care teams consequently rely upon components that are situated in interpersonal courses of action. These include factors such as, the interactional element, also the procedures inside the organization (the hierarchical elements), and in the organization’s structure, (the systemic elements) that a part of the organizational effectiveness for success.

The literature review demonstrates that we don’t presently have much confirmation of the impact of the implementing programs that negate these organizational factors, in regards to how they affect the increase in quality patient care and satisfaction. These factors, such as collaboration, efficiency, and effectiveness have recently received more attention than the authoritative and systemic determinants. There was a noticeable deficiency of observational studies assessing the effect of different elements on collaboration. A portion of the studies evaluated were constrained in both their extension of these programs and the routines utilized in the health care organization. Additional research needs to be conducted on the idea of collaboration to the relationship between two experts: doctors and nurses, in order to gauge their support of new programs in the organization.

The current research with systemic variables does not give a complete understanding of how they impact team effectiveness in healthcare settings, especially concerning social, and cultural determinants. The results that are presented show that it is crucial to achieve a finer understanding of how these systemic components sway collaboration in groups. The TeamSTEPPS program, exhibits the essential parts utilized in building communication for collaboration, team effectiveness, and efficiency. The program ensures correspondence, incorporates the check back and call out strategies, which help moderate errors and miscommunication issues that could be discriminating amid a patient handoff, and does this all while cultivating the continuation of clear and compact correspondence through the association at all times (DHHS, 2014). Certainly, a vital part is likewise played by expert training projects, since team-oriented practice requires the dominance of new abilities (attitudes, knowledge and skills).

There is a fundamental absence of observational proof concerning the impact of authoritative components on the improvement of collaboration between team members, especially the structural elements and those identified with hierarchical society. This includes components such as participation and encouragement from management, the doctors, and willingness from staff to retrain in the skills necessary for improved organizational culture. We likewise require a superior understanding of all the key qualities of health care organizations that encourage collaboration, efficiency, and effectiveness of their health care providers. In this study, the lack of research into the structural elements of the health care setting presents an impediment to overall understanding of the same. Especially when we take into consideration the numerous rearrangements that have been implemented in endeavors to replace previous programs that didn’t stress collaboration between doctors, nurses, and other health care personnel. The initiatives that have been analyzed show the importance of concrete aspects of the organization; for example: the management of leadership, team building, and human resources. In light of this concern, a study by Sicotte et al. (2002) demonstrates that hierarchical administration of HR has helped experts structure their collaborative efforts between hospital staff. Lastly, interactional determinants have gotten more consideration than hierarchical or systemic determinants. This extra consideration has helped in understanding the degree to which collaboration is an interpersonal process that requires both readiness and abilities to be fruitful. To effectively interact, professionals must have the capacity to develop team goals, and create a shared vision in providing efficient and effective satisfactory patient care.

Conclusion

Looking at the literature review, and the results from this research, this study can direct experts, administrators and healthcare professionals to a superior understanding of the key variables required when implementing collaboration programs for organizational performance improvement. These include, factors of organizational structure, training of staff, and incentives given to teams to push for better organizational success. This paper sought out to evaluate peer reviewed articles and journals that included evidence-based programs dedicated to the improvement of communication, as well as team performance and efficiency. In light of this research, collaboration is an interpersonal process that requires the vicinity of an arrangement of factors in the connections between teams to achieve organizational effectiveness. These incorporate a readiness to work together, confide in one another, common appreciation and correspondence. Despite the fact that the above conditions may be important, they are not sufficient. The factors that include hierarchical elements, the organizational structure, and social determinants from members of health care organizations assumes an essential part, particularly as far as the abilities of human resources and solid initiative in addressing patient care.

Each of these factors which fall under the components of interactional, hierarchical, and systemic, are fundamental and essential to the success of collaborative programs designed to increasing team efficiency, and effectiveness in healthcare organizations. We require a superior understanding of the connections between the determinants in influence team collaboration. It is important to understand that all the cases investigated include a blend of variables accepted to be crucial to the achievement of better patient care. This includes measuring success in the time new patients are attended to, inventory management, collaboration between staffs, and effectiveness of team performance. The organization needs to focus on training staff in indicators for better collaboration, and effectiveness, as well as implementing incentives in helping to be more efficient in the organization, are imperative.

The assessed effect of programs that are similar to TeamSTEPPS and the levels of execution considered to be effective should not be analyzed independently, but in the overall organizational effectiveness.  Grumbach et al. (2010) reached comparative conclusions, in their combination of essential consideration models. As long as TeamSTEPPS focuses on rebuilding leadership and communication skills to team members, there is an improved probability for achievement in the increase of organizational success. It is conceivable that actualizing a more extended form of the program would be considerably more effective; however, every individual healthcare organization is equipped for characterizing its own particular needs and using the system as it sees fit. Based on information that is presented in this study, the program is shown to be an effective device in helping organizations achieve team performance success.  For organizations to combat the problems that impact patient care, these organizations should aim at implementing programs that focus on team effectiveness, collaboration, efficiency, and performance. For these organizations to adequately actualize team systems that will expand the care of patients and overall organization, and reducing medical errors in regards to patient care with the support of a comprehensive methodology must be taken.

References

DHHS (2014). TeamSTEPPS: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Education & Training. Retrieved from: http://www.ahrq.gov/professionals/education/curriculum-tools/teamstepps/index.html

Grumbach, Kevin, Bodenheimer, Thomas. (2010). Can Health Care Teams Improve Primary Care Practice? JAMA. 291 (10). 1246-1251. Retrieved from http://assets1.mytrainsite.com/501187/6_-jama_article_2004__can_health_care_teams.pdf

Leggat, S. C. (2007). Effective healthcare teams require effective team members: defining teamwork competencies. BMC Health Serv Res. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1800844

Sicotte, C., D’Amour, D., & Moreault, M. (2002). Interdisciplinary collaboration within Quebec community health care centers. Social Science & Medicine, 55, 991–1003