NR 351 Week 8 Discussion: Reflection on Essentials and Competencies (Graded)
Two Massachusetts Nurse of the Future Nursing Core Competencies that I believe will have the most impact on my future professional nursing practice are leadership and teamwork and collaboration. These are the most important ones for me because they directly relate to my current role, and I will continue to build on these core competencies in my nursing practice. One of the key ‘knowledge, attitudes, and skills’ columns that resonates with me is one related to making changes in the workplace and being adaptable and open to other’s ideas to make changes to improve patient care. When changes are made in the facility, being able to explain the importance of the changes to staff and effectively make changes is a key component (Nurse of the Future Competency Committee, 2016). In reflecting on this course, I have become more aware of using scholarly sources in addition to evidence-based practice when implementing changes. Teamwork and collaboration are important as the effectiveness of the team can affect patient outcomes, patient safety, and the quality of care that is given to patients (Nurse of the Future Competency Committee, 2016). As the Quality Coordinator, my goal is always for positive patient outcomes and the best quality of care provided to patients. This course allowed me to see the impact that teamwork and the atmosphere can have on patient outcomes. It was not something I previously paid as much attention to as I was more focused on the science of best-practices for patient outcomes. I plan to take what I have learned in continuing to build on an effective team to improve patient outcomes.
One AACN BSN Essential that will be most important in improving quality in my future nursing profession is interprofessional communication and collaboration for improving patient health outcomes. I selected this essential because effective communication can have a direct impact on quality of care and patient outcomes. Collaborating with other team members to improve patient care, effectively communicating quality improvement action plans, and communicating the reasoning utilizing evidence-based practice are examples of how communication plays a role in quality. By effectively communicating and working together as a team, it builds teammate “buy-in” for changes which drives improved quality and safe patient care (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2008). By working on teamwork and communication, my practice will be improved with safer and better care for my patients.
References:
American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2008, October 20). The Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice. https://www.aacnnursing.org/Portals/42/Publications/BaccEssentials08.pdfLinks to an external site..
Nurse of the Future Competency Committee. (2016, March). Massachusetts Nurse of the Future Nursing Core Competencies. Massachusetts Department of Higher Education. https://www.mass.edu/nahi/documents/NOFRNCompetencies_updated_March2016.pdf
Masters (2020) stated, “Competency in systems-based practice requires the healthcare provider to be aware of and responsive to the larger context of the healthcare system…This obviously requires teamwork between nurses and other members of the healthcare team” (p. 327). Teamwork is vital in the complex healthcare system; however, it is essential to have effective teamwork.
In the article, Campbell et al. (2020) explained the interventions to improve teamwork, delegation, and communication between registered nurses and nursing assistants. There are “75% of adverse events resulting in death were attributed to a lack of communication among interdisciplinary team members” (Campbell et al., 2020). Ineffective collaborations between nurses and nursing assistants are related to lack of trust, role confusion, and power inequities.
Campbell et al. described several methods to improve collaboration between nurses and nursing assistants. The primary way is nurses need to intentionally establish a relationship-building of trust and respect with nursing assistants. Secondly, hospital units can create a method that facilitates nurse leaders to build a respectful teamwork relationship with the nursing assistants. In addition, nurse leaders need to think of how the floor unit is created and how nursing assistants are assigned to patient care to support nurse-nursing assistant collaboration. It is also essential to set a consistent team that generally works together to improve teamwork and communication. Ultimately, nurse leaders need to evaluate and assess any missed nursing care in a care delivery process to patient outcomes and address those areas where nursing care is missing. The relationship between nurses and nursing assistants can affect the interventions to improve teamwork, delegation, and communication. Therefore, nurses need to consider nursing assistants as their partners rather than assistants, which results in effective collaboration.
References
Campbell, A. R., Layne, D., Scott, E., & Wei, H. (2020, July 03). Interventions to promote teamwork, delegation and communication among registered nurses and nursing assistants: An integrative review. Journal of Nursing Management, 28(7), 1465-1472. doi:10.1111/jonm.13083
Masters, K. (2020). Role development professional nursing practice (5th ed). Jones & Bratlett.