Introduction
The health professional I have interviewed is a registered nurse who works in the intensive care unit department of an intermediate care facility. The interviewee is a 34-year-old female, and her main duties include assisting physicians, monitoring patients’ conditions and vital signs, evaluating treatment progress, maintaining records, preparing medical equipment, and administering medications. An issue that my interviewee identified as the most pressing one in her organization is low hand hygiene compliance. Although there have been certain policies that the hospital has introduced to increase hand hygiene compliance, there is a lack of investment in more efficient, technology-based approaches. The nurse claimed that her ability to complete her daily duties is affected because of health workers’ negligence and poor motivation to practice hand hygiene, which leads to the transmission of germs, including antibiotic-resistant microorganisms.
Some of the strategies implemented in the interviewee’s organization to improve hand hygiene compliance have been placing graphic reminders above the sinks and dispensers and educating health workers on the importance of hand hygiene. However, the results of these actions were not as effective as expected, and hand hygiene remains low in the hospital, causing the spread of infections. In the interviewee’s opinion, the leadership has not been sufficiently involved in solving this issue. For example, some of the sinks and dispensers remain broken or inconveniently placed, which negates the effect of the reminders.
In addition, the interviewee has noted that there is a lack of interdisciplinary collaboration at her organization and that she has had comparatively little experience working in an interdisciplinary team. Those teams mainly focused on developing treatment plans for the patients, and, overall, the nurse considers the experience to be positive. However, she also stated that it could have been even more beneficial if the professionals working in the team had placed more emphasis on collaboration.
Issue Identification
Infections acquired in the hospital are currently one of the major causes of mortality and morbidity. Proper hand hygiene practices, in turn, are considered to be an effective way to prevent the transmission of infections during communication and interaction between patients and medical staff (Gould et al., 2017). Even though health professionals are aware of the importance of hand hygiene, compliance levels remain low in many facilities, including the organization in question.
Change Theories and Leadership Strategies
There are several change theories and leadership strategies that could lead to an interdisciplinary solution. One example is the PDSA model, which will allow the creation of a step-by-step plan for the improvements by implementing a “trial-and-learning” method and evaluating changes in a time-efficient manner (Gould et al., 2017). Another theory is Lewin’s three-step model, consisting of unfreezing, changing, and refreezing, which helps to gain a detailed understanding of the different stages of the change (Burnes, 2019). Finally, the leadership strategies to be used are altering the interdisciplinary team to reflect the desired changes and promoting the culture of interprofessional transformations (Health Stream, 2021). If implemented consistently and appropriately, these theories and strategies are likely to lead to an interdisciplinary solution to the issue.
Collaboration Approaches
Leadership plays an essential role in how employees working on interdisciplinary teams view collaboration. Therefore, to promote the most efficient work environment and productive results, leaders can be recommended to consider the specific abilities and skills of all team members, exploring and combining their inputs. The change in the attitudes of the health professionals will change the work culture in the organization, allowing it to overcome its weaknesses and accomplish goals.
References
Burnes, B. (2019). The origins of Lewin’s three-step model of change. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 56(1), 32-59.
Gould, D. J., Moralejo, D., Drey, N., Chudleigh, J. H., & Taljaard, M. (2017). Interventions to improve hand hygiene compliance in patient care.Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 17(9).
Health Stream. (2021). Top 5 leadership strategies to implement change in healthcare.