Gluyas (2015) describes how communications between team members ‘requires co-operation, co-ordination and communication between members of a team to achieve desired outcomes.’ Teamwork is an integral part in providing safe and effective care to patients. An example of when communication is important is when you are transferring a patient to another facility or hospital. When transferring / handing over your patient to another facility it is important to communicate effectively such information on their current treatment or information on their condition.
Gluyas (2015) referenced a research where 459 patient safety incidents occurred 28.8% of incidents involved transfer of patients without adequate handover, 19.2% of incidents involved omissions of critical information about the patients’ condition and 14.2% of incidents involved omission of critical information inpatients’ care plans. Communicating in team allows for a more complete treatment of the patient as it allows you to communicate with other specialist to provide a more holistic care. An example is when a physiologist communicates with a podiatrist to help recover a marathon athlete. The physiologist will work on recover the athletes motions while the podiatrist can help with helping the athlete get back into running with proper footwear. Communication between the two would be important as it allows for a more complete treatment. Communication is extremely important when it comes to a patients care, for future patients I will be able to communicate with other health professional in teams which will allow me to provide a holistic care for them. It will also help when it comes to transferring patients to another facility as I will be able to provide the necessary information.
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Harry Cao 