Analysis of Interprofessional Collaboration in Healthcare Settings

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Concepts of inter-professional
and collaborative practice
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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Discussion..................................................................................................................................4
Conclusion................................................................................................................................11
Reference List..........................................................................................................................12
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Introduction
The purpose of this essay is to highlight the importance of effective communication at the
interprofessional level in the workplace. The essay has been structured using Gibb's model of
reflective writing, whereby my thoughts and perceptions on the mentioned topic has been
presented (Brown, 2016). This has been done to solely present the case of interprofessional
teamwork in healthcare services – whereby individuals with varied professional expertise and
skills work together and aim to achieve perfection in service provision. The importance of
interprofessional teamwork in the health and social care services is gaining rapid recognition
in the modern era. This is because of the fact that in the health and social service provision
industry, it is important to maintain equilibrium in the collaboration of the employed
individuals, in order to provide quality services to the customers. This essay highlights a
particular incident I have been individually involved in, and I try to reflect my case of poor
communication.
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Discussion
In this context of addressing my viewpoint on the importance of communication in
interprofessional teamwork in the healthcare services industry, I will refer to the case of a
certain "Mr B", an 87-year old patient, who was transferred to my placement ward. The
individual was an independent human being, who had to get his CT scan done before being
transferred to my ward. While attending the patient, I came across a few situations that made
me believe that interprofessional communication and teamwork in my professional area was
lacking (Fragkos, 2016). Hereby, I present my case about my perception using Gibb's
reflective cycle, which shall be divided into six parts, each of which presents an idea about
how I felt about the scenario, and what steps I can take to make it better (Johns, 2017).
Description
In the first part of Gibb's reflective model, I shall provide an idea about the scenario. Mr B is
an 87-year old patient, who had his CT scan done before being transferred to my placement
ward. Being a student in the department, I am charged with the responsibility of helping
others in the process of supervision and administration. Even though the staff in the
department had been particularly cautious in taking care of the patient, and the relatives were
also properly taken care of, I did notice some malpractices in the interprofessional activities
of the staff. For instance, the missing report of the CT scan examination proved to be a
bothersome experience, as the employees are supposed to take due care to make sure that the
information about the patients is communicated to the relatives (Reeves et al., 2017).
Misplacing the CT scan outcome is counted as a bad practice in the health care services
scenario. In addition, the employed individuals in the service provision department are
expected to communicate the results of the tests conducted on the patients and hand over the
documents to the relatives.
It was clear to me that not everyone in the organisation was communicating effectively. In an
organisation that employs individuals with diverse professional expertise, it is extremely
important that they communicate well (Carpenter and Dickinson, 2016). This makes sure that
the ideas in the organisation are efficiently transmuted from one individual to the other, and
prevents loss of important information. Had the communication and teamwork in the
interprofessional field been effective, the patient could have been taken better care of.
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Feelings
I felt that despite the best efforts of the team members to take care of the patient, there have
been certain areas that require attention and concern. Mr B, the patient, had been admitted to
the hospital whereby certain tests were conducted on him. When he was transferred to my
ward, I made sure that I did my part. I was charged with the responsibility of documenting
the vital signs of the patient, including his weight, height and other required measures
(Foronda et al., 2016). It was assessed that Mr B, despite being a very independent man, was
facing confusions in certain circumstances. The staff in the workplace was also informed
about this condition of the patient, and it was required by them to take care of him on this
ground. The interprofessional communication until this aspect was properly taken care of.
The relatives of the patient were also well informed about his condition and were made to
engage in his care. However, I was aware that some other activities were not properly being
considered by the organisation (Freeth, 2001).
It is a well-known fact in the health care service industry that it is important to record every
detail about the patient’s condition (Powell et al., 2016). Every little detail should be well
documented and informed to the relevant users of such information. The fact that the staffs
were not taking care of such little details caused me enough stress and anxiety. I noticed that
the staff members were all busy with other activities and there was barely any communication
between them (Körneret al., 2016). It did not take me much time to understand that this may
lead to several malpractices within the organisation. The main benefit of working in a team
involves reducing work pressure by means of communicating effectively with each other
(Fox et al., 2018). I felt that poor communication in the interprofessional field could lead to
undesirable effects and reflect the inability of the management to handle a difficult scenario.
The experience of performing as a caregiver in a care home was very much satisfying and it
helped me to learn many traits of the provision of care services to the patients and services
users. Reflective practice is a necessary part of every working individual’s life. According to
Marsick and Watkins (2015), reflective practice helps the individuals to implement the
strategies to execute the operational activities and tasks properly within the workplace. I felt
that the experience, which I acquired by working in the workplace has helped me to establish
as a quality individual. The experience, that I acquired, helped me to provide the care services
in a smooth and efficient manner.
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The reflective practice, which I applied in the workplace, helped me to grow on the
professional and personal front. According to Bratton and Gold (2017), the reflective practice
also helped me to execute the operational activities and implement the strategies, which
would help in maximising the productive work in the workplace. Various categories of teams
exist within the workplace that helps in executing the work with efficiency and smoothness.
Teamwork was executed with efficiency and flawlessness with the application of Belbin’s
team development roles within the workplace. The team roles of Belbin’s theory being
divided among the different individuals tend to implement systematic work in the workplace.
Evaluation
I had mixed experience while encountering the different situations within the workplace. I
experienced both good and bad things during my tenure as a caregiver in the work
environment in which I worked. At the time of joining the job, I was very inexperienced but
when I started to get a feel of the job, I loved it. Serving the patients and service users at the
care home built a feeling of bliss within me.
It helped me to execute the various activities with ease and efficiency. The support provided
by the management of the workplace helped me to grow as an individual personally. It also
helped my professional development through the evaluation of a skills audit being conducted
in the organisation. Some moments faced during my work tenure related to the rise in dissent
of the patient’s families, which was very much hard to tackle. According to Stevens (2017),
the families of the patients at times tend to lose their patience and the blame falls on the care
providers. At times, I felt bad when I could not achieve the target or goal set by the
management. I lacked motivation during those times that made me lose the desire to work for
the betterment of the workplace. At times when the families of the patients expressed their
anger and dissent at the services provided to the patients, I felt that I had reached my all-time
low.
Teamwork, which is executed in an effective manner in the workplace, helped me to conduct
the operational activities and provide the services in a smooth manner. There was a lack of
proper communication going on at times in the workplace. It has affected my work as the
developments arising from poor communication among the team members distracted me. For
instance, the CT scan report of one of the patients was not provided on time, which led to
resentment among the family members of the patients.
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I felt during those times that had the team members had been more responsible than the
service could be provided smoothly and efficiently within the workplace. Another bad
experience, which I had, was once; one of my colleagues was caught while indulging in some
evil practice at the workplace. The accused was punished in accordance with the workplace
law, which exists. After working for a long time in the workplace, I found out that the various
healthcare practices could be provided by me to the service users properly if the
communication process involved in documenting the strategy was completed by
implementing sound communication. According to Sullivan and Skelcher (2017),
communication done in a poor manner tends to affect the credibility of the organisation in
providing substantial services to service users. According to Knapp et al., (2018), the patients
after receiving the care services within the organisation had a feeling that the various care
practices being provided by the organisation were of high quality and standard.
Analysis
Sociologist of America, Graham Gibbs invented the Gibbs reflection model in the year of
1988, which encouraged me to reflect on my activities related to providing service to the
numerous patients in the care homes. Gibbs reflective model helped to evaluate the various
practices, which I involved in executing the care activities. According to me, there was
commotion created in the workplace in which I worked due to lack of proper communication
existing within the team members. According to Gee (2018), the team members did not
possess enough knowledge about implementing specific ways to communicate within the
workplace. This created problem issues in my work as I could not motivate myself and lost
the desire to work for the organisation. I felt that unity was missing in the organisation and
that had created a void which affected the credibility of the care home organisation.
I also faced similar problems at my workplace while executing the operational activities.
From the theory, it can be found out that there were problems of poor communication going
on between the inter-professional teams that affected the execution of the various operational
activities within the workplace. According to Issel and Wells (2017), the families of the
patients were involved in framing the plans of providing the healthcare services to the
patients. According to Laudon and Laudon (2016), the management of the care home devised
various strategies by adopting traits and features, which helped in executing the different
activities and tasks of the organisation in a smooth and efficient manner. According to
DeCenzo et al., (2016), communication, if effected poorly, tends to affect the chain wise
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operations to be executed which lead to various other problems arising within the
organisation. According to Rothrock (2018), diagnosis, if done in an improper or wrong way,
tends to affect the conduction of the operations within the organisation. Patients who receive
the treatment at the wrong time or if the treatment meted out to the patient is delayed, the
patient might expire which would lead to a disastrous situation in the workplace.
The fact that the viewpoints of the service users were taken into account at the time of
making decisions within the workplace and tends to ensure that all the activities are executed
perfectly without any flaws. According to Helmreich and Merritt (2017), interprofessional
teams have to work properly by adhering to the regulations and system within the
organisation. As a care professional along with other team members, I have to ensure that I
keep my ego aside while providing the wholesome services to the different patients who were
provided with the care service. Other colleagues also have to ensure that they will follow the
strategies within the organisation and execute the work cohesively so that the service meted
out to the patients is of high quality and standard.
Conclusion
Reflecting upon my work, I felt that I could have interacted with all the colleagues in a better
manner and in doing so, the services provided to the service users could have been more
effective. Application of the different features of the Gibbs reflection model helped me to
understand that I had to plan in a systematic way in order to provide the services to the
patients smoothly. Sometimes, I feel the requirement to acquire more knowledge and
information about the different operational aspects related to my work as well as the services,
which I provide to the patients.
Gibbs cycle of reflection ensured that I could improve my work abilities to execute the
operational activities in a proper and effective manner within the organisation. I also require
maintaining my patience as it would help me to deal with the families of the patients in a cool
and composed manner. I could bring about the proper evaluation of the duties and
responsibilities, which would ensure executing the activities and providing the services in a
smooth way by adhering to the rules and regulations of the workplace. According to Gibbs
(2018), the Evaluation phase involved within the Gibbs cycle of reflection helped me to
ensure that the operational activities and tasks are executed in a systematic manner.
It also helped me to focus on the positives and the negative aspects of my working style in
the workplace. This helped me to develop as a person and a professional in future. I have to
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focus on executing activities within the workplace in a balanced manner so that the different
strategies can be implemented successfully. The planning part involved in framing the
strategy was done well but the execution of the plan could be made better by sharpening the
skills, which exist in me. Shared goals and targets have to be accomplished in the
organisation and this would help me to devise correct strategies within the workplace and
execute it with the help of smooth efficiency and quality. It would help in averting the poor
communication problems, which occurred in the case of Mr., an aged man of 87 years. My
contribution was beneficial for the workplace as I helped in treating the patients very well by
behaving with them in a patient manner. I could explain the different problems with logical
reasoning to the families of the patients. I could improve my communication skills in
executing the activities of the organisation.
Action Plan
I could have provided the service by interacting with the fellow employees and the healthcare
professionals, which would help in implementing the correct strategies to execute the
operational activities within the workplace. I feel that I need to interact more with my
teammates in order to avert any similar problem, which arose in the case of treating Mr B, an
87-year-old man. The problem of poor communication existed among healthcare
professionals and the staffs regarding documenting the plans and strategies to be
implemented properly. The communication strategies have to be devised properly within the
organisation after a prolonged discussion with the families of the patients and the healthcare
staffs and professionals. This would help in avoiding conflicts and problems arising within
the organisation and help in the execution of the operational activities smoothly. In order to
execute effective work, I have to improve my communicating skills to interact with the
fellow employees of the department so that no missing links in communication exists.
As an employee of the department in which I worked, I would suggest to the management of
the workplace to introduce modern and advanced training methods and procedures for every
employee so that they can acquire the correct knowledge and information to devise, plan and
implement the strategies of communicating skills. Communication skills have to be
sharpened in the organisation and all the employees have to ensure cohesive work in the
workplace to execute the activities smoothly and efficiently. I feel that I need to focus upon
the areas of developing the various skills of verbal and written communication techniques,
which would help the healthcare staffs to gain a proper understanding of the concepts and
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aspects of the work. From my previous experience, I will have to learn. In order to frame a
health aspect related report of any individual, I will inform the management to maintain a
proper database of the patient alongside me. This will help in creating a backup and would
reduce any forms of miscommunication within the workplace. I strongly feel that in order to
maintain a proper work culture in the organisation I will have to acquire knowledge about
many aspects of the treatment of the patients. I will attend training sessions and workshops to
gain knowledge about executing the operational activities of the organisation.
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Conclusion
The reflective essay highlighted the importance of effective communication existing at the
inter-professional level in the workplace. Gibbs model of reflection was applied which helped
in reviewing the ways adopted by me to execute the activities within the workplace. The case
study of Mr B, an aged man of 87 years old tends to highlight the different problem issues
and conflicts arising due to poor communication involving my activities within the
workplace. Importance of inter-professional teams was stated in the essay and it involved my
reflection in order to improve upon the areas where flaws existed.
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