Interview and Interdisciplinary Issue Identification
• PRINT
create a 2-4 page report on an interview you have conducted with a health care professional. You will identify an issue from the interview that could be improved with an interdisciplinary approach, and review best practices and evidence to address the issue.
As a baccalaureate-prepared nurse, your participation and leadership in interdisciplinary teams will be vital to the health outcomes for your patients and organization. One way to approach designing an improvement project is to use the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle. The Institute for Healthcare Improvement describes it thus:
The Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle is shorthand for testing a change in the real work setting—by planning it, trying it, observing the results, and acting on what is learned. This is the scientific method adapted for action-oriented learning…Essentially, the PDSA cycle helps you test out change ideas on a smaller scale before evaluating the results and making adjustments before potentially launching into a somewhat larger scale project (n.d.).
Full Answer Section
Jane explained that medication errors often occur because of communication breakdowns between healthcare professionals. For example, a doctor might prescribe a medication, but the nurse might not understand the dosage or the instructions. Or, a pharmacist might dispense the wrong medication because they did not have all the relevant information.
Jane believes that interdisciplinary collaboration could help to reduce medication errors. By working together, healthcare professionals can share information and communicate more effectively. This can help to ensure that patients receive the correct medications at the correct doses.
Best Practices and Evidence to Address the Issue
There are a number of best practices and evidence to support the use of interdisciplinary collaboration to address the issue of medication errors. For example, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that hospitals that implemented interdisciplinary medication safety programs had a significantly lower rate of medication errors than hospitals that did not implement such programs.
Another study, published in the journal Health Affairs, found that interdisciplinary collaboration can help to improve patient satisfaction. Patients who receive care from interdisciplinary teams are more likely to report being satisfied with their care than patients who receive care from single-discipline teams.
Using the PDSA Cycle to Address the Issue
The Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle is a useful tool for designing and implementing interdisciplinary improvement projects. The PDSA cycle consists of four steps:
- Plan: In the planning stage, the team identifies the problem they want to address and develops a plan to address it.
- Do: In the doing stage, the team implements the plan and collects data on the results.
- Study: In the studying stage, the team analyzes the data and identifies what worked well and what could be improved.
- Act: In the acting stage, the team makes changes to the plan based on what they learned in the studying stage.
The PDSA cycle can be used to address a variety of interdisciplinary issues, including medication errors. In the case of medication errors, the team might start by identifying the most common types of errors that occur in their hospital. They might then develop a plan to improve communication between healthcare professionals. For example, they might create a system for nurses to double-check medications with pharmacists before administering them to patients.
The team would then implement the plan and collect data on the results. They would look at the number of medication errors that occur before and after the plan is implemented. They would also look at the severity of the errors that occur.
The team would then analyze the data and identify what worked well and what could be improved. They might find that the plan was effective in reducing the number of medication errors, but that some errors still occurred. They might then make changes to the plan to address these remaining errors.
The team would continue to use the PDSA cycle until they are satisfied with the results. They might continue to collect data and make changes to the plan for several months or even years.
Conclusion
Interdisciplinary collaboration is an important tool for improving patient safety. By working together, healthcare professionals can share information and communicate more effectively. This can help to reduce medication errors and improve patient satisfaction. The PDSA cycle is a useful tool for designing and implementing interdisciplinary improvement projects. By using the PDSA cycle, healthcare professionals can make sure that their interventions are effective and that they are continuously improving the quality of care.