Assignment: Interdisciplinary Plan Proposal

Assignment Interdisciplinary Plan Proposal

Introduction

The healthcare system is a complex environment that requires collaboration and coordination among different departments to ensure that patients receive comprehensive and effective care. However, in many healthcare facilities, there is a lack of communication and coordination among departments, which can result in a fragmented approach to care and negatively impact patient outcomes (Nolan-Isles et al., 2021). This lack of collaboration and coordination can result in a duplication of efforts, which can be both time-consuming and costly, as well as causing confusion and frustration for patients who receive conflicting information from different departments.

The purpose of this plan proposal is to outline a strategy for improving communication and coordination among departments in a healthcare facility. The goal is to create an Interprofessional team that can collaborate and work towards driving improvements in this organizational issue, in order to deliver high-quality and patient-centered care.

Objectives

The objectives of this plan proposal are to:

Identify and prioritize the key issues related to communication and coordination among departments in the healthcare facility.
Develop and implement strategies for improving communication and coordination among departments, with a focus on Interprofessional collaboration.
Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies implemented to ensure that they are driving improvements in the organizational issue.
Identify and prioritize key issues:

To begin, a needs assessment will be conducted to identify and prioritize the key issues related to communication and coordination among departments in the healthcare facility. This will involve conducting interviews and focus groups with healthcare providers, patients, and other stakeholders, and reviewing relevant data and information. The results of the needs assessment will be used to identify areas for improvement and prioritize the key issues that need to be addressed.

Develop and implement strategies:

Based on the results of the needs assessment, strategies will be developed to improve communication and coordination among departments, with a focus on Interprofessional collaboration. These strategies may include:

Regular Interprofessional meetings, where different departments can come together to discuss their approaches to care and develop a more unified treatment plan for patients. This can be done through the formation of a multidisciplinary team (MDT) that involves representatives from each relevant department. The MDT can meet regularly to discuss patient cases, provide input on the development of treatment plans, and ensure that all departments are working towards a common goal.
The use of technology, such as electronic health records (EHR), to improve communication and coordination among departments. EHRs can provide a centralized platform for sharing patient information and tracking the progress of treatments and interventions (Ahmed et al., 2020). They can also allow healthcare providers to access important patient information from different departments, reducing the risk of duplicating efforts and improving the continuity of care.
Education and training programs for healthcare providers on interprofessional collaboration and communication skills. This can involve providing training on the importance of collaboration, effective communication strategies, and best practices for interprofessional teamwork. Healthcare providers can also participate in simulations or role-playing exercises to practice applying these skills in real-life situations.
Development of a shared decision-making model for patient care, to ensure that all departments are working towards a common goal. This model should involve collaboration and communication between healthcare providers from different departments, as well as with patients and their families, to ensure that all perspectives are considered in the development of treatment plans.
Monitor and evaluate effectiveness:

Having a dedicated team responsible for monitoring and evaluating the progress of the Interprofessional collaboration initiatives will be crucial. This team will analyze the results of the feedback and data collected to determine if the strategies are achieving the desired results and making a positive impact on the healthcare facility and its patients. They can also identify any potential challenges or obstacles and work to address them in a timely manner. In order to sustain the improvements in communication and coordination, it will be important to integrate the strategies into the healthcare facility’s policies and procedures (Organization, 2020). This will ensure that the practices are sustained over time and become a standard way of providing patient care. In order to foster a culture of Interprofessional collaboration, it will be important to continue to educate and train healthcare providers on the benefits of working together and to provide ongoing support and resources. This may include regular workshops and training sessions, as well as opportunities for healthcare providers to collaborate and share best practices. By taking a comprehensive approach to improving communication and coordination among departments, the healthcare facility can ensure that patients receive high-quality, coordinated care. This will result in improved outcomes for patients, as well as increased satisfaction and improved collaboration among healthcare providers.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) will be established to track the progress and effectiveness of the strategies implemented. These KPIs may include metrics such as:

Increased frequency and effectiveness of Interprofessional meetings.
Increased use and utilization of EHRs for sharing patient information and tracking treatment progress.
Improved communication and collaboration skills among healthcare providers, as measured through feedback from patients and staff.
Increased satisfaction among patients and their families, as measured through patient surveys and focus groups.
Improved continuity of care, as measured by a decrease in duplicated efforts and conflicting recommendations among departments.

Implementation and Timeline

The implementation of this Interprofessional collaboration plan will require the involvement of different departments and stakeholders in the healthcare facility, including healthcare providers, patients, and administrative staff. The timeline for implementation will be divided into several phases:

Phase 1 (3 months): Conducting needs assessment is an essential step in the process of developing an Interprofessional collaboration plan. This will help to identify and prioritize the key issues related to communication and coordination among departments in the healthcare facility and ensure that the initiatives implemented address the most pressing needs.

Phase 2 (6 months): Develop and implement strategies for improving communication and coordination among departments, including the formation of a multidisciplinary team, use of technology, education and training programs, and the development of a shared decision-making model for patient care.

Phase 3 (ongoing): Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies implemented and make adjustments as needed to ensure that they continue to drive improvements in communication and coordination among departments.

Conclusion:

Improving communication and coordination among departments in a healthcare facility is a complex and ongoing process that requires collaboration and teamwork. By creating an Interprofessional team and implementing strategies to improve communication and coordination, the healthcare facility can ensure that patients receive high-quality, patient-centered care. The monitoring and evaluation of the strategies implemented will ensure that the process of improvement remains ongoing and that the healthcare facility continues to make progress towards its goal of delivering effective and efficient care to its patients.

References

Ahmed, Z., Mohamed, K., Zeeshan, S., & Dong, X. (2020). Artificial intelligence with multi-functional machine learning platform development for better healthcare and precision medicine. Database, 2020.

Nolan-Isles, D., Macniven, R., Hunter, K., Gwynn, J., Lincoln, M., Moir, R., Dimitropoulos, Y., Taylor, D., Agius, T., & Finlayson, H. (2021). Enablers and barriers to accessing healthcare services for Aboriginal people in New South Wales, Australia. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(6), 3014.

Organization, W. H. (2020). WHO global strategy on health, environment and climate change: The transformation needed to improve lives and wellbeing sustainably through healthy environments.

The issue that the researcher wants to solve is high rate of turnover among nurses in Hospital X. The plan will be carried out in the human resource and nursing departments where the needs of the nurses will be identified and addressed to solve the issue. The desired outcome for this plan is a reduction in the rate of turnover among the nurses and provision of opportunities that promote their retention in the organization.

The objective of this plan is to reduce the high rate of turnover among the nurses in institutional X. The reduction in turnover among the nurses will result in a decline in the operational costs associated with recruiting and training new nurses alongside retaining the existing workforce. The objective will result in cost-efficiency in the running of operations in the hospital and improvement in the quality of care provided to the patients due to high rate of staff satisfaction.

What are some of the factors contributing to the high rate of turnover among the nurses in Hospital X?
The nurses could be leaving the hospital due to factors such as high workload, poor remuneration, dissatisfaction with their jobs, and seeking for better employment opportunities.
What ways can the issue of high rate of turnover among the nurses can be addressed?
The issue can be addressed by investigating the causes of the problem first. It can be followed by ensuring that opportunities that address their needs are met. However, the adopted interventions should be cost-effective.
How can sustainability in the methods used be promoted?
Sustainability can be promoted by ensuring that the strategies have a long-term focus. The right leadership styles and change management models will also be utilized to promote sustainability.

Change Theories and Leadership Strategies

The change theory that would be used in implementing the strategy is Kurt Lewin’s theory of change. According to Lewin, change occurs through a series of steps for it to be successful. The steps include unfreezing, change, and refreezing. Lewin theorized that change in organizations occur due to the influence of forces that include restraining, driving, and equilibrium forces. Driving forces stimulates a change since they push the affected to the desired direction. Restraining forces hinder the adoption of the desired behaviors that promote change. They can cause a shift in the equilibrium to the opposite direction (Burke, 2017). It is therefore important that the driving and restraining forces against the adoption of interventions to address the issue facing the organization be identified and addressed.

The first step in the theory of change by Lewin is unfreezing. This is the initial step where the management and nurses in Hospital X have to find a way of letting go of their old behaviors that are counterproductive. In this case, they have to identify the factors that are contributing to the high rate of turnover among the nurses in the hospital. However, it is important that they identify the restraining forces that impede change in an organization. The management and nurses can achieve unfreezing with the use of three interventions that include increasing the forces that drive change, decreasing forces that restrain change, and combining the manner in which the two forces can be combined to promote change (Szabla et al., 2017). For instance, nurses have to express their concerns that contribute to the high turnover rate among them for the management to determine the opportunities they need.

The second step in the theory of change by Lewin is change. This stage is characterized by the adopters of the change agent resolving the uncertainty amongst them. They explore new ways in which the issue of high rate of turnover among the nurses can be addressed. As a result, they start adopting behaviors that will promote change or move towards the new direction. It is therefore important that the adopters be provided with the support the need to embrace the change. The third step in Lewin’s model is refreezing. This is the stage where the change has been adopted. The adopters are now ready to refreeze their old behaviors and embrace behaviors that would promote sustainability of the change (Szabla et al., 2017). Therefore, the management and nurses in the hospital have embraced interventions to address the issue of turnover among the nurses.

Transformational leadership will be used in implementing the plan. The human resource manager and other organizational stakeholders need to embrace a leadership style that is focused on meeting the needs of the employees. The existing organizational processes should be transformed to ensure that the current and future human resource needs in the organization are addressed adequately. The management model should also be centered on the needs of the employees. The needs, concerns, and ideas of the employees should be incorporated into the strategic decisions made in the company’s decisions. The leadership style should also focus on teamwork and open communication. The employees should be willing to share their experiences and work collectively towards achieving the needs of the organization (Burke, 2017). Through these interventions, the organizational processes will be transformed to promote staff satisfaction, hence, reduced incidence of turnover among them.

Collaboration is an important way in which the plan will be implemented in the organization. According to Grosse and Loftesness (2017), a collaborative approach entails the utilization of the efforts from the organizational stakeholders to achieve a common goal. In relation to the issue in this paper, the aim of collaborative approach is to bring together the executives, managers, and staffs in

determining the manner in which high rate of turnover among the nurses can be addressed. Several collaborative interventions can be utilized to address the issue of focus in this research. One of them is forming a strategic alliance between the management and leadership of the hospital with its employees. The management, leadership, and the nurses in the organization should agree to work together in solving the issue. The benefits of utilizing strategic alliances will include the firm having a better understanding of the needs of the nurses, obtaining insights into ways of improving the quality of care, and reduce unforeseen risks associated with the turnover.

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The second type of collaboration that will be utilized to solve the issue entails forming innovative networks. In this approach, a focus will be placed on strengthening the existence of formal and informal networks between the employees and the management. This will allow the sharing of information on the ways of creating innovative environments that promote employee growth. The last collaborative approach that would be utilized is forming coalitions with the employees. The management will work with the employees in setting goals that should be adopted to address the issue. Collaboration is appropriate for the needs of the teams because it will allow them to share ideas on the ways in which the issue can be solved. It also allows active participation of the team members, hence, their empowerment and sustainability of the interventions (Grosse & Loftesness, 2017). Therefore, collaboration will address the actual and perceived needs of the nurses, hence, the adoption of sustainable interventions against nurse shortage.

Required Organizational Resources

The implementation of the plan will require some resources. Firstly, the nurses have to be provided with opportunities that promote their personal and professional growth. This will include opportunities such as training them on new ways of promoting quality in nursing care. The nurses also have to be provided with competitive packages as a way of motivating them. This will translate into additional financial resources for the company. There is also a need for hiring more nurses that are qualified to fill the gap in workforce. The new nurses should be oriented on the organizational practices for them to embrace the desired culture. Lastly, there is a need to purchase new equipment that will enhance the efficiency in the provision of care to the diverse populations.

It is important that the issue of high turnover rate be addressed in the organization. However, failing to address the issue is associated with significant adverse outcomes to the organization. Firstly, it will increase operational costs due to hiring of new nurses. It will also increase workload for the remaining nurses, hence, further turnover. It will also lower the quality of care due to high disproportionate ratio of patient to that of the nurses. Consequently, the management should consider addressing the issue to avert these outcomes.

For this assessment you will create a 2-4 page plan proposal for an interprofessional team to collaborate and work toward driving improvements in the organizational issue you identified in the second assessment.
Professional Context
This assessment will allow you to describe a plan proposal that includes an analysis of best practices of interprofessional collaboration, change theory, leadership strategies, and organizational resources with a financial budget that can be used to solve the problem identified through the interview you conducted in the prior assessment.

Scenario
Having reviewed the information gleaned from your professional interview and identified the issue, you will determine and present an objective for an interdisciplinary intervention to address the issue.

Note: You will not be expected to implement the plan during this course. However, the plan should be evidence-based and realistic within the context of the issue and your interviewee\’s organization.
Instructions
For this assessment, use the context of the organization where you conducted your interview to develop a viable plan for an interdisciplinary team to address the issue you identified. Define a specific patient or organizational outcome or objective based on the information gathered in your interview.

The goal of this assessment is to clearly lay out the improvement objective for your planned interdisciplinary intervention of the issue you identified. Additionally, be sure to further build on the leadership, change, and collaboration research you completed in the previous assessment. Look for specific, real-world ways in which those strategies and best practices could be applied to encourage buy-in for the plan or facilitate the implementation of the plan for the best possible outcome.

Using the Interdisciplinary Plan Proposal Template [DOCX] will help you stay organized and concise. As you complete each section of the template, make sure you apply APA format to in-text citations for the evidence and best practices that inform your plan, as well as the reference list at the end.

Additionally, be sure that your plan addresses the following, which corresponds to the grading criteria in the scoring guide. Please study the scoring guide carefully so you understand what is needed for a distinguished score.

Describe an objective and predictions for an evidence-based interdisciplinary plan to achieve a specific goal related to improving patient or organizational outcomes.
Explain a change theory and a leadership strategy, supported by relevant evidence, that is most likely to help an interdisciplinary team succeed in collaborating and implementing, or creating buy-in for, the project plan.
Explain the collaboration needed by an interdisciplinary team to improve the likelihood of achieving the plan’s objective. Include best practices of interdisciplinary collaboration from the literature.
Explain organizational resources, including a financial budget, needed for the plan to succeed and the impacts on those resources if the improvements described in the plan are not made.
Communicate the interdisciplinary plan, with writing that is clear, logically organized, and professional, with correct grammar and spelling, using current APA style.
Additional Requirements
Length of submission: Use the provided template. Remember that part of this assessment is to make the plan easy to understand and use, so it is critical that you are clear and concise. Most submissions will be 2 to 4 pages in length. Be sure to include a reference page at the end of the plan.
Number of references: Cite a minimum of 3 sources of scholarly or professional evidence that support your central ideas. Resources should be no more than 5 years old.
APA formatting: Make sure that in-text citations and reference list follow current APA style.