Nursing - Tamsin And Sam - Scenario Writing Assignment Help

Internal Code : 1IFEC

Nursing Assignment Help

TASK Part 1 In the video below, Tamsin and Sam discuss aspects of teamwork and communication shown in the MET call video. As you are watching, reflect on how well you considered the ideas Tamsin and Sam are exploring within your own report. Did you think of any factors or effects that were not identified in this video?

Part 2: Analysing the scenario

Teamwork and communication are essential for improving outcomes for patients, staff and the organisations we work in and we know errors in communication and teamwork lead to significant burdens in healthcare. We are all human, and human factors play an important role in quality and safety outcomes, and hence why there is a lot of research and evidence that has identified the impact and strategies that can be implemented to prevent errors in the healthcare environment, and teamwork and communication always seem to be front and centre. When I think of effective teamwork and communication for patients it makes me think about the patient experience. How much better it would be if the patient felt like they were involved and almost in charge of their care. They lose so much autonomy which is really evident in the acute care setting. So effective communication with the patient is so important. Not only is the experience for the patient but it’s also the prevention of adverse outcomes. Ineffective teamwork and communication can lead to horrendous situations that contribute to increased morbidity and mortality.  Whilst we know root-cause analysis will investigate such sentinel events, no one wants to be involved in such a situation. How awful for the patient, their family and the staff. And even events that have less of an adverse outcome, whenever I had to complete a risk-man because of an error that was directly or indirectly related to me I felt sick in the stomach. As staff members we come to work to ‘do our best’. No one goes to work to be involved in an error or cause harm to their patients or other staff members. I can’t begin to imagine the burden a staff member might experience if they were involved in a significant error. The devastation to their confidence and practice could be life changing, they may want to leave the profession. And the other staff members involved may also experience similar feelings. As much as poor teamwork and communication can lead to errors, great teamwork and communication is one of the things I love so much about being a nurse. When I feel like a valued member of team, where I feel like I can contribute, where I’m heard and where we communicate effectively makes my days at work enjoyable, even the ones that aren’t so great. So if staff experience poor teamwork and communication you can see how that leads to burnout and poor staff retention. The flow on effect to the organisation would be significant too. The costs associated with ongoing recruitment and training of staff is quite costly. And the costs associated with errors in patient care are also huge. It might be financial burden that increases the patient’s length of stay but it could also be litigation and poor media coverage. And litigation and poor media coverage have a flow on effect to patients and staff as well. So watching that scenario was really comforting to see so many positive aspects of teamwork and communication

Part 3 Communication

• Good communication about the deteriorating of the patient:
  • Katie communicating with her preceptor that she was concerned. She clearly stated that she was concerned about Dolly
  • When Katie communicated her concerns she used the graphics obs chart to show Monica what she was also conveying

• Communication was mostly clear and effective
  • Used names
  • Introduced themselves
  • Katie kept the patient informed about what will happen when the MET team arrived
  • Monica gave clear instructions to Katie what Katie was to do and what she was going to do – call the MET
  • Non-verbal communication – touch of Dolly – Kelli massaged her feet when she arrived, the team had good eye contact with each other (Kelli looked at the team member she was speaking to when she was delegating tasks or discussing the patient)  also hand gestures were evident,
  • The team positioned themselves so Dolly could see them well
  • Kelli spoke to patient and team
  • Closed loop communication Kelli asked Katie to get fluids, Katie said yes and clarified what volume of fluid, and then Monica said “I’ll do that for you Katie”
  • Times where they didn’t communicate their assessment/thoughts did occur. An example Kelli would have been doing an ABCDE, but didn’t communicate it. From the plan Kelli was giving you could infer that she had completed that assessment, but just didn’t present it systematically back to the team.
  • Kelli communicated her plan of care for Dolly at the end which was good, it’s linking it in to goal setting which is essential in good outcomes for patients

Part 4 Teamwork

• The team
  • Were supportive of the leader and there was a clear leader
  • Cooperative team players, got in and helped each other out.
  • Could sense it was a good team as they felt they could contribute – Katie speaking up about the SR pain relief and no urine output for the patient.
  • I did notice that Chanika didn’t appear to listen to handover, but then highlighted pain relief at one point when they were talking about what the patient required
  • Kelli’s position at the head of the bed was really good as it meant she could observe everything that was happening

• Distribute workload
  • Did well. No overly clear roles (except Kelli), however lots of experience and possibly knew each other and understood the situation and what needed to be done without stating it
  • Monica may have over accepted jobs- she went to get the fluid, she was going to administer the fluids she was then going to be doing the antibiotics and was getting the IV cannula trolley.

Part 5 Other considerations

• It was great to see that no one fixated on anything. It’s so easy to do this, particularly in scenarios such as MET call.
  • No fixation

The examples for effective/ ineffective teamwork and communication in the context of given case scenario:

• The nurse asked all the relevant information from the patient such as how is she feeling? fine or light headed and also if she is feeling dry, feeling pain or not,
• The personal conversation between nurses created disturbance in the post-operative environment - I am bit worried about dolly need to call help by a nurse, was disturbing for the patient.
• The student nurse, was unable to call a senior nurse because of hesitation with lack of communication skills.
• Repetitive questions like how are you feeling dry and all, may have cause of irritation and frustration in patient as well as “Ok. I think maybe when we get this sorted we might be able to get you a cup of tea” shows the ignorance towards the patient.