Simulation can take healthcare from hierarchy to teamwork

by Lydia Forsythe Social intricacies surround us. As we walk through our healthcare organizations they exist whether we acknowledge them. Recognizing these social nuances is important, but not easy to do, given the many societal layers and time constraints in our busy and complex health organizations. In particular, both explicit and implicit activities socially shape healthcare teams. It's hard for new staff and leaders to acclimate to an organization and a team, which sometimes creates retention issues. We can identify and recognize a team's social structures by giving it a voice, and enhance its presence by using a qualitative simulation activity. Planned team simulations can open doors to understanding how we connect in our care delivery hierarchies as socially constructed professionals. We can slow down the environment and develop a space for interaction that normally does not exist. We can take real-time activities and bring a new dimension of increased discussion to allow time for additional interactions and improvements, while building positive relationships and increasing the efficiency and safety potential. Using this method, teams develop new ways to understand and welcome newcomers into the fold, thus helping with retention--enhancing team communication for increased patient safety and forging positive relationships. Start by recreating a typical healthcare event that may lead to less than favorable team connections. For example, when recent medical schoo...
Source: hospital impact - Category: Health Managers Authors: Source Type: blogs