Lesson 1: Why Are Teamwork and Communication Important? - ✔️✔️-
Effective health care teams have several important characteristics, including: - ✔️✔️-
Effective communication techniques.
Effective health care teams have a shared goal and effective two-way communication.
The membership of the team may change frequently (Answer B), and it's quite possible
for a health care team to consist of people who have never worked together before
(Answer A). That makes strong, two-way communication a critical part of delivering safe
care.
Which of the following is likely to be the most immediate result of building an effective
health care team? - ✔️✔️- Safer care
The best answer is that care will be safer. For example, according to The Joint
Commission, an estimated 80 percent of serious medical errors can be linked to
miscommunication between caregivers when patients are transferred or "handed-over."
One of the hallmarks of effective health care teams is frequent, two-way communication
— a characteristic that would likely have an immediate and positive effect on care
transitions and safety. While better teamwork can lead to fewer delays, elimination of
waste, and even less costly care, these results would likely be secondary to an increase
in safety.
, As a nurse practitioner in a small, rural urgent care clinic, you believe that your clinic
team works well together. Which of the following facts would best support your belief? -
✔️✔️- The team routinely takes a moment to discuss the plan and voice concerns
before doing a procedure.
One of the main characteristics of strong health care teams is effective and frequent
communication. The absence of unprofessional behavior (Answer A) does not
necessarily mean the team is effective. And the failure to share information during shift
changes is risky for patients (Answer B).
One reason it's critical for caregivers to improve their teams' effectiveness is: - ✔️✔️-
Effective teams reduce the risk of errors by providing a "safety net" for individual
caregivers.
Effective teams — teams whose members communicate often and reciprocally — act as
a kind of "safety net" that can help prevent errors resulting from one member's fatigue or
distraction, for instance. Effective teams may still use technology often, and it's likely
that patients and families will encounter many members of the team.
When considering your role within a health care team, it is important to keep in mind
that: - ✔️✔️- No matter what profession you belong to, you will be a member of the
team and must work intentionally toward making that team effective.
If you're entering any field in which you'll be caring for patients, it's a certainty that you
will be a member of a team; in fact, you may be a member of multiple teams. As such,