NURS-FPX4005- Assessment 3
Interdisciplinary Plan Proposal
Extended delays in patient discharge due to inadequate coordination among nurses, physicians, and case managers have adversely affected workflow and patient throughput in the medical-surgical unit (Amina et al., 2022). This interdisciplinary strategy will be executed in that unit to improve communication and care coordination through structured multidisciplinary rounds. The objective is to enhance discharge efficiency and decrease length of stay. This proposal delineates the objectives, anticipated outcomes, tactics for transformation, leadership approaches, collaborative framework, and resource necessities essential for the effective implementation of the plan.
Objective
This plan aims to introduce Structured Interdisciplinary Bedside Rounds (SIBR) and a standardized discharge checklist to promote real-time communication and improve discharge coordination in the medical-surgical unit (Blakeney et al., 2021). The objective is to decrease discharge delays by a minimum of 25% within three months post-implementation. Accomplishing this goal will optimize patient flow, decrease bed turnover durations, and elevate staff satisfaction by promoting a more integrated, collaborative workflow. This plan corresponds with the organization’s overarching objectives of enhancing patient outcomes and operational efficiency via improved interdisciplinary collaboration.
Questions and Predictions
- Will the implementation of SIBR augment staff effort during daily rounds? Initially, employees may encounter a minor escalation in workload due to scheduling adjustments and the acquisition of the new process; however, this is anticipated to stabilize within two weeks as the workflow becomes familiar.
- Will the implementation of a standardized discharge checklist be uniformly adopted? With enough training and leadership endorsement, it is expected that checklist utilization will integrate into the daily routine for a minimum of 85% of discharges within the initial month.
- What impact would early discharge coordination have on patient outcomes? Patients are anticipated to encounter reduced waits and more prompt discharges, perhaps resulting in elevated satisfaction scores and a diminished risk of hospital-acquired diseases.
- Will multidisciplinary collaboration be enhanced after organized rounds? SIBR is anticipated to enhance collaboration, augment communication, and result in more effective patient care planning, as evidenced by analogous units employing this paradigm.
- What obstacles could hinder the execution of the plan? Staff resistance and unpredictability in physician participation may occur; however, these issues can be alleviated by effective leadership and continuous feedback mechanisms (Blakeney et al., 2021).
Change Theories and Leadership Strategies
Lewin’s Change Theory offers a pragmatic basis for promoting the implementation of interdisciplinary discharge rounds. During the “unfreezing” phase, personnel will be informed about the effects of present delays on patient flow, satisfaction, and unit efficiency. This understanding can be enhanced through staff meetings, case studies, and result metrics. The “change” phase entails the implementation of SIBR and a collaborative discharge checklist, thereby ensuring defined responsibilities and effective communication. It will be easier to keep the change going during the “refreezing” phase if there is constant tracking, positive reinforcement, and these tools are built into policy. This method works exceptionally well in settings with people from different fields because it encourages staff participation and reduces opposition by introducing changes gradually. Research endorses Lewin’s framework as a practical approach for enhancing coordination and accountability in care transitions, rendering it appropriate for the current strategy (Amina et al., 2022).
Transformational leadership will be crucial in cultivating commitment, motivation, and accountability among team members. For this method to work, leaders must show how to work together, create a shared goal, and recognize contributions from different fields. In the medical-surgical unit, nurse leaders can help people adopt by stressing how better discharge coordination is in line with professional standards, cuts down on inefficient work, and improves patient care. To keep people’s trust and support, leaders can hold meetings with people from different fields, ask for feedback, and be open about problems. Studies indicate that transformational leadership enhances team cohesion and communication, essential for the success of collaborative endeavors (Basic et al., 2021). This leadership strategy enhances implementation outcomes and fosters a culture of enduring interdisciplinary collaboration by empowering team members and reinforcing the collective objective.
Team Collaboration Strategy
The execution of the plan will necessitate explicitly delineated roles and duties for each member of the interdisciplinary team. The charge nurse will orchestrate the daily SIBR and guarantee the presence of all participants. Staff nurses will compile patient updates in SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, and Recommendation) format before rounds. Case managers will evaluate discharge obstacles and commence referrals or post-release care plans (Johansen et al., 2022). Physicians will participate in rounds to deliver clinical updates and discharge schedules. The rounds will take place each morning at the patient’s bedside, lasting 5 to 7 minutes per patient. To enhance collaboration, the team will implement SIBR as the principal communication framework, supplemented with a standardized discharge checklist and real-time recording tools. Research indicates that structured rounds improve responsibility, clarify roles, and facilitate patient-centered planning (Basic et al., 2021). This method of working together makes sure that all individuals have a say in decisions, cuts down on misunderstandings, and encourages shared responsibility. This leads to a more organized workflow that keeps discharge times to a minimum.
Required Organizational Resources
Successful implementation of SIBR requires minimal yet strategic resources. Staffing needs necessitate the involvement of one physician, one charge nurse, participating staff nurses, and a case manager for each round (Ohta & Sano, 2023). The organization currently employs these positions; hence, no further recruitment is required. Nevertheless, slight modifications to daily workflows and rounding schedules will be necessary to guarantee availability. Resources comprise SBAR templates, printed discharge checklists, and access to mobile devices or laptops for real-time documentation—assets currently available at the site. The financial effects are minimal and mainly pertain to staff training sessions and perhaps overtime during the transition period (Jones et al., 2022). Access to patient rooms and electronic health record systems is essential and has already been included in existing procedures. Failure to apply this plan may result in prolonged patient stays, diminished bed availability, staff fatigue, and significant revenue losses stemming from inefficient throughput and delayed admissions from the emergency department.
Conclusion
Inadequate communication between disciplines is still a problem in the medical-surgical unit, leading to delayed patient discharges. This interdisciplinary plan proposes the use of SIBR, standardized communication tools, and joint leadership to improve the efficiency of discharge in a planned, evidence-based way. Using this multidisciplinary approach will improve the flow of patients, shorten hospital stays, and help staff work together better. To achieve long-term success and culture change, staff will have to keep working hard and be involved as leaders.
References
Amina, A., Kassem, A., & Sleem, W. (2022). Applying Lewin’s Change Management Theory To Improve Patient Discharge Plan. Mansoura Nursing Journal, 9(2), 335–348. https://doi.org/10.21608/mnj.2022.295591
Basic, D., Huynh, E. T., Gonzales, R., & Shanley, C. G. (2021). Twice‐Weekly Structured Interdisciplinary Bedside Rounds and Falls among Older Adult Inpatients. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 69(3), 779–784. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.17007
Blakeney, E. A., Chu, F., White, A. A., Smith, G. R., Woodward, K., Lavallee, D. C., Salas, R. M. E., Beaird, G., Willgerodt, M. A., Dang, D., Dent, J. M., Tanner, E. I., Summerside, N., Zierler, B. K., O’Brien, K. D., & Weiner, B. J. (2021). A scoping review of new implementations of interprofessional bedside rounding models to improve teamwork, care, and outcomes in hospitals. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 38(3), 411–426. https://doi.org/10.1080/13561820.2021.1980379
Johansen, J. S., Halvorsen, K. H., Svendsen, K., Havnes, K., Robinson, E. G., Wetting, H. L., Haustreis, S., Småbrekke, L., Kamycheva, E., & Garcia, B. H. (2022). Interdisciplinary collaboration across secondary and primary care to improve medication safety in the elderly (The IMMENSE study) – a randomized controlled trial. BMC Health Services Research, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-022-08648-1
Jones, W. D., Rodts, M. F., & Merz, J. (2022). Influencing discharge efficiency. Professional Case Management, 27(4), 169–180. https://doi.org/10.1097/ncm.0000000000000549
Ohta, R., & Sano, C. (2023). The effectiveness of Family Medicine-Driven interprofessional collaboration on the readmission rate of older patients. Healthcare, 11(2), 269. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11020269
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Instructions for Assessment 3
Having reviewed the information gleaned from your professional interview and identified the issue, you will determine and present a plan for an interdisciplinary intervention to address the issue. While you will not be expected to implement the plan during this course, the plan should be evidence based and realistic within the context of the issue and your interviewee’s organization.
The goal of this assessment is to clearly lay out the improvement objective for your interdisciplinary intervention. Be sure to build on the leadership, change, and collaboration research you completed in the previous assessment. Look for specific, real-world ways in which those strategies and best practices could be used to generate buy-in for the plan or improve the implementation of the plan.
Instructions
Use the context of the organization from your interview to develop a viable plan for an interdisciplinary team to address the issue you identified. Define a specific organizational or patient outcome based on the information gathered in your interview.
Using the Interdisciplinary Plan Proposal Template [DOCX] will help you stay organized and concise. As you complete each section of the template, apply APA format to in-text citations for the evidence and best practices that inform your plan, as well as to the reference list at the end. (Because you’re using a template, a title page is optional.)
Be sure that your plan addresses the following, which corresponds to the grading criteria in the scoring guide. Please study the rubric carefully so you understand what is needed for a distinguished score.
- Describe an objective and predictions for an evidence-based interdisciplinary plan to achieve a specific goal related to improving patient or organizational outcomes.
- Explain a change theory and a leadership strategy, supported by relevant evidence, that is most likely to help an interdisciplinary team succeed in collaborating and implementing, or creating buy-in for, the project plan.
- Explain the collaboration needed by an interdisciplinary team to improve the likelihood of achieving the plan’s objective. Include best practices of interdisciplinary collaboration from the literature.
- Explain organizational resources, including financial, needed for the plan to succeed and the impacts on those resources if the improvements described in the plan are not made.
- Organize content so ideas flow logically with smooth transitions; contains few errors in grammar/punctuation, word choice, and spelling.
- Apply APA formatting to in-text citations and references, exhibiting nearly flawless adherence to APA format.
Additional Requirements
- Length of submission: Use the template. Remember that part of this assessment is to make the plan easy to understand and use, so it is critical that you are clear and concise. Most submissions will be 2–4 pages in length. Be sure to include a reference page at the end of the plan.
- Number of references: Cite a minimum of three sources of scholarly or professional evidence that support your central ideas. Resources should be no more than 5 years old. See the Bachelor of Nursing (BSN) Program Library Guide.
- APA formatting: Make sure that in-text citations and reference list follow current APA style. See the APA Module.