Introduction
Within any organization, teamwork and effective communication are extremely important to achieve the best outcomes and the highest customer satisfaction. However, healthcare facilities have much higher requirements for interaction and cooperation among the employees since any misunderstanding may lead to adverse outcomes on people’s health. Therefore, Al Rahba Hospital, as well as any other healthcare organization, takes care of arranging the best means of employee communication so that no negative effects on patient outcomes might appear.
The Importance of Communication in the Professional Laboratory Settings
A professional laboratory environment requires special approaches to organizing effective communication between the employees. A laboratory team should have a high level of organization and reaction to any unexpected situations (1). At Al Rahba hospital, all laboratory employees have their duties and responsibilities adherence to which arranges an effective work. Laboratory organization within the hospital is complex, which necessitates a thorough development of communication rules among the people on the team. Every person should realize their duties and fulfill them in accordance with the hospital’s requirements. At any level of hospital structure, some employee fails to share crucial data, such behavior may undermine the whole process of creating a positive environment for the workers and increase the possibility of negative effects on the patients.
Professional interaction in modern hospitals and laboratories incorporates various levels and, apart from personal communication, involves exchanging such types of data as textual, video, and audio elements (2). Thus, it is vital for each laboratory worker to get acquainted with the latest technologies and learn the possible ways of employing them in practice.
Distribution of Information to Staff in the Laboratory
The way in which information is delivered to the laboratory workers is dictated by the workplace structure. The acting laboratory manager distributes the necessary facts to the subordinates: hematology-blood bank senior technologists, chemistry senior technologists, phlebotomists, lab receptionists, acting POCT coordinator, acting quality coordinator, and active safety coordinator. In their turn, chemistry senior technologists and hematology-blood back senior technologists pass the information further to their technologists and assistants. At each of the stages, every person in charge of passing the information should do their best to deliver the facts in the most precise way so that no confusion might appear. The subordinates who receive instructions sign in special registers and thus become responsible for the correct implementation of the rules and regulations.
My role as that a laboratory assistant maybe not be the most important one, but it is still rather responsible. I have to check what types of tests doctors order and decide on the sample collection type. After picking the sample and identifying the patient by the bar code, I perform the test and report the results to the doctor. The crucial function of a lab assistant in sharing information at this point is being extremely cautious about the accuracy of results and not confusing any patients’ data. Patients’ welfare depends on my work, and I should do my best to provide the results in the most precise way.
My Role in Maintaining a Good Working Environment
Apart from fulfilling my direct duties, I also have to arrange effective communication with my senior colleagues to maintain the most positive working environment within the assigned laboratory. With this aim, I am rather considerate about taking advice from the manager and other colleagues (3). I understand that I am the least experienced person on the team, and any recommendations or instructions given to me should not be neglected. I always do my best to remember or even put down the pieces of advice from my senior co-workers. I understand that the knowledge I obtain during my practice at the laboratories of Al Rahba hospital will be rather valuable in the future.
Whenever I am given any instructions, I receive them with attention and try to adhere to them in the best way possible. However, sometimes I also may make contributions to the teamwork. I offer my professional opinion on some laboratory issues, and quite frequently, the manager praises my knowledge and suggestions as being useful for the laboratory’s work efficiency.
Possible Difficulties and the Ways of Resolving Them
One of the obstacles to arranging a positive working environment may be associated with the employee’s failure to fulfill their duties and arrange communication in the most effective way (4). For instance, if safety guidelines are not followed, a threat may occur both for the patients and employees. To eliminate the negative outcomes of such occurrences, it is necessary to restore the effective functioning of the laboratory as soon as possible.
Another type of difficulty in laboratories’ successful work is concerned with communication problems that may lead to misunderstanding and incorrect performance of the employees. To minimize the negative impact of such cases, it is necessary to arrange the most effective ways of communicating and regularly organize staff meetings where the newest and most productive interaction methods will be presented and discussed.
Also, problems may appear if employees do not follow the safety guidelines of the hospital in general and of laboratories in particular. Such problems may be resolved by arranging a regular assessment of laboratory workers’ knowledge of the rules and regulations.
The fourth possible difficulty is when the junior staff of the laboratory does not follow the instructions of the senior colleagues. Elimination of this issue is possible when the laboratory’s manager arranges a set of disciplinary measures that will let every worker know what they should expect if they disregard the demands of their supervisors.
Conclusion
Al Rahba hospital management does its best to arrange the most effective ways of communication for the employees since it realizes the importance of such interaction for the customers. At every level, the hospital’s employees try to comply with the rules and regulations in order to eliminate the possibility of problems’ occurrence. Hospital laboratory teams are rather attentive to the regulations since they realize the outcomes of any error they might make.
References
- Wain KE, Riggs E, Hanson K, Savage M, Riethmaier D, Muirhead A, et al. The laboratory-clinician team: a professional call to action to improve communication and collaboration for optimal patient care in chromosomal microarray testing. J Genet Couns; 21(5): 631-637.
- McKee HA, Porter JE. Professional communication and network interaction: a rhetorical and ethical approach. New York: Routledge, 2017.
- Armstrong M, Taylor S. Armstrong’s handbook of human resource management practice. 14th ed. New York: Kogan Page Limited; 2017.
- Koonce R. The emergent nature of positive (and negative) organizing: why mindset matters. In: Koonce R, Robinson P, Vogel B, editors. Developing leaders for positive organizing: a 21st century repertoire for leading in extraordinary times. Bingley: Emerald Publishing; 2017. p. 3-42.