Voices are important, no matter how small.
Hospitals are essential for public health and are very important to maximize productivity in dire situations. In these settings, it is crucial for doctors and nurses to increase their communications skills in a surgery setting since “events resulting from errors happen at unacceptably high rates in the inpatient setting and that ineffective or insufficient communication among team members is often a contributing factor” (Lingard et al, 2004). Increasing the communication between different levels of occupation in a hospital can result in saving a life.
Assume nothing, share everything.
Psychological safety is incredibly important when it comes to handling patients’ lives. Doctors and nurses who are too afraid to speak up in a surgical setting can literally be the difference between life and death. Leaders in a surgery setting should be open to opinions by encouraging their staff to make inputs without the repercussions of being reprimanded in the hierarchy of leadership because of conflicting beliefs (Edmondson, 1439-1440). Surgeons, regardless of years of experience, should still be able to be open to learning since every case is different and medicine is always changing, and nurses should be able to express their knowledge as well.
Both points here contribute well to furthering the basis of an effective team in this setting. The two tips kind of seem to be almost the same point: communication. with effective communication, a team can be just that, a team.
Effective communication makes the difference between a group of individuals and a team. Your first point coincides with the second very well because when a small voice assumes that others know what they do then they will rarely share their thought. Additionally, if an individual is concerned that their thought may be wrong or potentially taken negatively based solely upon the assumptions that the others are more experienced or knowledgable, they may keep to themselves rather than sharing.
If communication is made a priority by company policy and training, team cohesion, effectiveness, and performance will allow for greater success in further endeavors. Communication makes or breaks a team, without effective communication there is no team. Just a collection of smug people that think they know best.
Jive with Five!
I completely agree with your statement “assume nothing, share everything”. Especially in an operating room when there is a group of people working together, some nurse or person with lower power status may have seen something that the surgeon may have overlooked and physiological safety is necessary. Even more so when the patients life is on the line. Groups in high stake environments need to consider everyone’s opinions and welcome any comments that would help the group as a whole.
I like the emphasis on how employing these ideas could be the difference between life and death. Overall really well written, but wasn’t there supposed to be three?
I like your slogans, especially the first one. I think it is very important especially in hospital situations. If someone has something to say, they shouldn’t hold it in because what they say may remind someone of something they haven’t thought about.
I love your points about communications and speak up! These should definitely be addressed in operate rooms where any mistake may affect the results. And you mentioned surgeons should open learning which is super necessary.
Btw, did you miss one tip when you posted? Every group should post 3tips.
Hey group 5,
I like where you guys are going with your tips as communication and psychological safety are incredibly important for a group’s ability to be successful, especially in a high stress occupation such as a nurse or doctor. However, I think you could take your argument a little bit further. For example, what kind of things could they do to increase their communication skills in your first tip? You guys are definitely on the right track with your ideas, but I’d just like to hear a little bit more about your thoughts on how they could implement better methods of communication or what the doctors could do specifically to promote inner group psychological safety.
Great effort!
I like that your tips are easy to remember and straight forward while also capturing the important message behind them! Good communication and psychological safety both seem like really important things to have in a hospital setting and go hand and hand with each other.
Phrases like these are great and easy to remember. Especially in intense moments of caring for a patient, a quick phrase can help a nurse voice their thoughts or help a doctor listen to their team (this is all to focus themselves on the patient and not worry about hierarchical differences when there’s psychological safety). Both tips should also reduce communication errors that put a patient at risk, since all voices are spoken and heard. Also, I enjoyed the last line: “medicine is always changing”.
Hi Group 5! I really like the attention you gave to individuals who may feel ‘small’. Encouraging everyone in different positions to speak up is a great idea. In addition, I liked what you had to say ab out not assuming anything. From our readings, it seems like assumptions can lead to detrimental failures, so sharing everything would be beneficial.
The tip mentioned in your essay is very valuable and would help not just in the medical field but any environment. I also agree that medicine is always moving and gearing towards the next best thing and communication is crucial in the field.
I really liked your slogans and think they fit perfectly for the topic at hand. I think overall, the quality of care relies greatly on how effective the communication is between nurses, doctors and the whole team. It would be interesting to consider if there is any difference in the quality of relationships and communication in a private hospital compared to a public hospital.