Teamwork Perceptions Paper

Words: 882
Pages: 4

There are many barriers between nurses and supervisors today that cause a lack in patient care and communication. Developing a plan of care with staff is an example of a problem that jeopardizes patient safety. Complacency and workload are barriers to this problem, but utilizing TeamSTEPPS strategies can improve communication and patient safety.
Describe the Problem
In the TeamSTEPPS Teamwork Perceptions Questionnaire, number ten, which is under the “Leadership” domain, is a disagreeable statement. This statement reads supervisors meet with staff to develop care plans for patients (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality [AHRQ], 2010). Supervisors rarely have the time to help develop a plan of care for each patient, but a brief suggestion
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The two most glaring barriers noted are workload and complacency (AHRQ, 2013). In healthcare today, time is at a premium; nurses take on larger patient loads while nursing managers have more meetings, responsibilities and less resources. Amidst such duties and constraints, conducting a needs assessment for patient care can be forgotten, or even ignored due to complacent routines.
Increased demand, inadequate supply, understaffing, and decreased length of patient stay are increasing nursing workloads (Carayon & Gurses, 2008). Workload increases responsibilities, and time constraints remain finite and constant. An increase in workload pressures nurses to complete daily tasks, which causes poor communication and barriers to the planning process and safety improvements (Grossman & Valiga 2013).
Strategies to Address TeamSTEPPS
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The questionnaire used was, TeamSTEPPS – Teamwork Perception Questionnaire (T-TPQ), because it assesses the staff’s needs. This questionnaire allows the nursing staff to anonymously report their perception of teamwork on the unit (AHRQ 2010). Survey administration and collection would occur at the start and end of daily shifts to evaluate the effectiveness of the brief, huddle, and debrief for the day. The results will be collected from nurses working that day. Moss & Tibbs (2014) believe this questionnaire is helpful for finding which team member currently needs an adjustment by classifying the questions according to duties. The second measure used is evening rounding by the shift supervisor. This measure allows the supervisor to verify the implementation of the patient care plan and notify the primary nurse of any needed adjustments. This measure will be collected through observation, using qualitative data, and patient feedback. This feedback will give a percentage of implementation success to use for improvement if needed. Rounding performed by supervisors on a nursing unit promotes teamwork and communication amongst staff and demonstrates that the supervisor is interested in the daily activities being performed on the unit (Winter & Tijong, 2015). Implementing these TeamSTEPPS strategies and utilizing a