Importance Of Team Communication Research Articles

Patient Safety Education: Team Communication and Interprofessional Collaboration

Team communication, teamwork, and interprofessional collaboration are critical and the basis for patient safety in a more diverse and complex clinical environment. This study explored the current status of teamwork, team communication, and interprofessionalism in the context of patient safety within undergraduate medical education. A scoping review of the literature published since 2010 was undertaken. Fifteen papers were included for final review. The most commonly used educational methods were off-line lectures and simulations. Standard team communication tools suggested in TeamSTEPPS (team strategies and tools to enhance performance patient safety) were covered in some of the research. Knowledge, skills, and teamwork attitudes, interprofessional collaboration, and/or patient safety were improved in most of the papers. In the previous studies of team communication, the content and method of education, and the change in knowledge and attitudes of the individuals have been widely reported, but more research is needed regarding the method of evaluating the teamwork itself. In addition, education on team communication as well as patient safety and interprofessionalism is lacking. As the importance of team communication in patient safety increases, more attention is needed on this topic in undergraduate medical education.

Physical Therapist Students' Perceptions: Learning From a Community-Based, Client-Focused, Interprofessional Learning Experience

Introduction. This study examined physical therapist students' perceptions of their learning from a year-long, community-based, client-focused, interprofessional education experience (IPE) involving nine disciplines. Methods. Sixty-nine Doctor of Physical Therapy students (n = 69) completed a reflection paper at the end of an IPE, consisting of small group visits of students from four of the nine different health care disciplines, with families in their homes, larger structured group discussions with faculty, and a wellness project. The students participated in four home visits, and six discussion sessions were completed over two semesters. Two teams of two researchers reviewed and coded the papers to identify key words and phrases to reflect meaning. All researchers then reached a consensus on themes and subthemes. Triangulation of analysis occurred throughout the analysis, and quotes that reflected the important themes were identified. Results. Themes included the following: 1) learning about differences in perspective, 2) importance of team communication, 3) value of seeing a patient in their own environment and realizing how this affects their health and health behaviors, 4) making a connection with a patient, and 5) realizing that the patient's goals can be different from the students' expectations. Discussion and Conclusions. This IPE was perceived as an effective and meaningful instructional strategy. The realistic situated learning methods resulted in students appreciating the need for individualized consideration of the patient as a whole person. The extended period of team-based requirements fostered a deeper understanding of communication across professions and with clients, along with insights into the perspectives of different health care professionals.

Team communication amongst clinical teachers in a formal meeting of post graduate medical training.

The importance of team communication, or more specifically speaking up, for safeguarding quality of patient care is increasingly being endorsed in research findings. However, little is known about speaking up of clinical teachers in postgraduate medical training. In order to determine how clinical teachers demonstrate speaking up in formal teaching team meetings and what factors influence this, the authors carried out an exploratory study based on ethnographic principles. The authors selected 12 teaching teams and observed, audio recorded and analysed the data. Subsequently, during an interview, the program directors reflected on speaking up of those clinical teachers present during the meeting. Finally, the authors analysed iteratively all data, using a template analysis, based on Edmondson’s behaviours of speaking up. The study was conducted from October 2013 to July 2014 and ten teams participated. During the teaching team meetings, the clinical teachers exhibited most of the behaviours of speaking up. “Sharing information” strongly resembles providing information and “talking about mistakes” occurs in a general sense and without commitment of improvement activities. “Asking questions” was often displayed by closed questions and at times several questions simultaneously. The authors identified factors that influence speaking up by clinical teachers: relational, cultural, and professional. The clinical teachers exhibit speaking up, but there is only limited awareness to discuss problems or mistakes and the discussion centred mainly on the question of blame. It is important to take into account the factors that influence speaking up, in order to stimulate open communication during the teaching team meetings.

Ten Heuristics for Interdisciplinary Modeling Projects

Complex environmental and ecological problems require collaborative, interdisciplinary efforts. A common approach to integrating disciplinary perspectives on these problems is to develop simulation models in which the linkages between system components are explicitly represented. There is, however, little guidance in the literature on how such models should be developed through collaborative teamwork. In this paper, we offer a set of heuristics (rules of thumb) that address a range of challenges associated with this enterprise, including the selection of team members, negotiating a consensus view of the research problem, prototyping and refining models, the role of sensitivity analysis, and the importance of team communication. These heuristics arose from a comparison of our experiences with several interdisciplinary modeling projects. We use one such experience—a project in which natural scientists, social scientists, and local residents came together to investigate the sustainability of small indigenous communities in the Arctic—to illustrate the heuristics.