Improving Leadership and Patient Safety in the Emergency Department

Running head: NURSING
NURSING
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1NURSING
Poor
service
quality
Conflict within ED
Inefficient leadership skills
to manage conflicts
Poor medical
documentation and
reporting errors within ED
High risk of falls within
ED
Poor Patient Outcome
Introduction:
The healthcare sector is regarded as one of the most dynamic sectors that requires
continuous improvement and integration of innovation so as to facilitate quality in terms of
service delivery. Our clinical area of specialization involves working within the emergency care
unit which is characterized by a strenuous and busy work schedule and requires the effective
functioning of a multidisciplinary team of care professionals so as to ensure a positive care
outcome. Based on our domain of specialization we would like to use the fishbone diagram in
order to identify two critical areas that need service development in order to promote positive
outcome. As stated by Bashkin et al. (2015), the fish-bone diagram assists professionals to
identify and categorize the potential problems that hinder the smooth functioning of a process
and accordingly assort relevant solutions.
Fig: As created by author

2NURSING
Therefore, on the basis of the fishbone diagram, the first issue would comprise of service
development thorough training on effective leadership style so as to manage resistance and
conflict within the emergency unit so as to create a high performance nursing team. The second
would comprise of imparting knowledge through awareness workshops about the development
of high quality and safety within the workplace. The rationale for the choice of the topics can be
mentioned as their strong correlation with the work atmosphere and work process within the
emergency care unit.
Building high performance nursing team:
Conflict can be defined as a cumulative outcome of differing expectations, backgrounds
or communication styles among a team of professionals. Conflict within the emergency
department can occur between nurses and patients or family members, consultants,
administrative staff or the multidisciplinary team of professionals during the decision making
process. Research studies suggest that adapting a transformational leadership style can positively
help in conflict resolution (Chan et al., 2013). A research study suggested that managers who
exhibited the transformational style of leadership managed to resolve conflicts by integrating the
obliging style of conflict management (Saeed et al., 2014). Transformational leadership can be
defined as the leadership style where the leader works collectively with a team and identifies a
needed change in the process. Upon identification of the change, the leader creates a vision so as
to guide the team to realize the change through motivation. On account of excessive workload
and multitasking, emergency departments are susceptible to medical errors in relation to
incorrect medication management and reporting. The problem is serious pertaining to the adverse
impact it can cause on the wellbeing of the patients. However, as per Ehsani et al. (2013),
nursing leaders must respond to episodes of medication error constructively rather than putting