New Horizons in Patient Safety: Understanding Communication


Book Description

This case studies book is a unique, practical, cutting-edge, and indispensable go-to resource for front-line practitioners and educators in medicine. Each case study (chapter) is framed by a set of introductory learning objectives, an evaluation section, thought-provoking discussion questions, and references to further readings. Furthermore, the book is conveniently organized along the continuum of medical care delivery, providing quick access to ad-hoc solutions in safety- and quality-compromised situations, illustrating how skillful communication can be the key to a more effective prevention, intervention, and response to “close calls” and adverse events. The case studies book is unique and innovative in its interdisciplinary integration of the contemporary literature in communication science with current “hot buttons” of patient safety. It manifests a valuable interdisciplinary collaboration by translating the basic tenets of human communication science for practitioners of medicine, providing a conceptual, evidence-based foundation for formulating communication-based practice guidelines to advance patient safety and quality of care. The case studies put communication theory into practice to facilitate experiential learning, granting insights into the breadth and diverse aspects of safe and high quality healthcare delivery. Thought-provoking discussion questions and references for further reading make this book a valuable reference for medical practitioners across the world.




New Horizons in Patient Safety: Safe Communication


Book Description

This case studies book is an indispensable resource for educators, students, and practitioners of nursing. It is innovative in its application of lessons from the communication sciences to common challenges in the delivery of safe patient care. The authors apply basic tenets of human communication to the context of nursing to provide a foundation for practices that can advance the safety and quality of care. The cases, which describe "close calls" and adverse events, are organized along the continuum of healthcare delivery, providing quick access to solutions in commonly encountered care situations. Each case is accompanied by a discussion of how skillful communication can be key to preventing and recovering from errors and adverse events. Thought-provoking discussion questions and references for further reading make this book a valuable reference for nursing educators, students, and practitioners across the world.




Promoting Teamwork in Healthcare


Book Description

Providing healthcare is a team endeavor. Teams play an important role along the full chain of patient care, ranging from ad-hoc emergency and anesthesia teams delivering immediate care to tumor boards conferring on long-term cancer treatment. Thereby, quality of patient care hinges on the successful intra- and interprofessional collaboration among healthcare professionals, and sensitive partnering with patients and their families. In particular, communication and coordination in healthcare teams have been found essential for team performance and patient safety. Yet, effective teamwork is challenging, especially in large hospitals where turnover rates are high, and for interdisciplinary and interprofessional ad-hoc teams lacking the experience of constantly working together as a team (e.g., ICU, emergency teams, obstetrics, or anesthesia). Moreover, healthcare teams deal with complex tasks, have to make risky and fast decisions under uncertainty, and to adapt quickly to changing conditions. Fostering research on how to promote effective teamwork in healthcare may thus make an important contribution to a better quality of patient care.




The Patient Factor


Book Description

Patients are increasingly encouraged to take an active role in managing their health and health care. New technologies, cultural shifts, trends in healthcare delivery, and policies have brought to the forefront the "work" patients, families, and other non-professionals perform in pursuit of health. Volume I provides a theoretical and methodological foundation for the emerging discipline of Patient Ergonomics – the science of patient work. The Patient Factor: Theories and Methods for Patient Ergonomics, Volume I defines Patient Ergonomics, explains its importance, and situates it in a broader historical and societal context. It reviews applicable theories and methods from human factors/ergonomics and related disciplines, across domains including consumer technology, patient-professional communication, self-care, and patient safety. The Patient Factor is ideal for academics working in health care and patient-centered research, their students, human factors practitioners working in healthcare organizations or at technology companies, frontline healthcare professionals, and leaders of healthcare delivery organizations.




Physician Leadership


Book Description

You know how to practice medicine. Now learn how to lead with this insightful resource from one of medicine’s most accomplished leaders. In Physician Leadership, renowned medical leader Dr. Karen J. Nichols delivers a concise guide for busy physicians doing their best to successfully lead people and organizations. The book covers foundational leadership essentials that every physician needs to master to transform themselves from a highly motivated novice leader into an effective, skilled, and productive leader. Each chapter offers readers a summary of the crucial points found within, sample questions, exercises, and a bibliography of the relevant academic literature for further study. Ideal for doctors who don’t have the time to peruse an unwieldy collection of the latest research and thought on organizational leadership, or to take a multi-day course on effective leadership, Physician Leadership distills the author’s extensive research and personal experience into a short and practical handbook. Physician Leadership provides actionable, real-world advice for practicing and aspiring physicians: A thorough introduction to personal approach and style when interacting with patients, managers, boards, and committees An exploration of how to employ the principles of effective communication to achieve desired results and practical techniques for implementing those principles Practical discussions of the role that perspectives play in shaping an organization’s culture and how those perspectives affect leadership efficacy In-depth examinations of approaches to decision-making that get buy-in from others and achieve results Perfect for doctors stepping into a leadership role for the first time, Physician Leadership also belongs on the bookshelves of experienced physician leaders seeking to improve their leadership abilities and improve the results of their organizations.




New Horizons in Patient Safety


Book Description

This case studies book is a unique, practical, cutting-edge, and indispensable go-to resource for front-line practitioners and educators in medicine. Each case study (chapter) is framed by a set of introductory learning objectives, an evaluation section, thought-provoking discussion questions, and references to further readings. Furthermore, the book is conveniently organized along the continuum of medical care delivery, providing quick access to ad-hoc solutions in safety- and quality-compromised situations, illustrating how skillful communication can be the key to a more effective prevention, intervention, and response to "close calls" and adverse events. The case studies book is unique and innovative in its interdisciplinary integration of the contemporary literature in communication science with current "hot buttons" of patient safety. It manifests a valuable interdisciplinary collaboration by translating the basic tenets of human communication science for practitioners of medicine, providing a conceptual, evidence-based foundation for formulating communication-based practice guidelines to advance patient safety and quality of care. The case studies put communication theory into practice to facilitate experiential learning, granting insights into the breadth and diverse aspects of safe and high quality healthcare delivery. Thought-provoking discussion questions and references for further reading make this book a valuable reference for medical practitioners across the world.




Quality and Safety in Nursing


Book Description

Drawing on the universal values in health care, the second edition of Quality and Safety in Nursing continues to devote itself to the nursing community and explores their role in improving quality of care and patient safety. Edited by key members of the Quality and Safety Education for Nursing (QSEN) steering team, Quality and Safety in Nursing is divided into three sections. Itfirst looks at the national initiative for quality and safety and links it to its origins in the IOM report. The second section defines each of the six QSEN competencies as well as providing teaching and clinical application strategies, resources and current references. The final section now features redesigned chapters on implementing quality and safety across settings. New to this edition includes: Instructional and practice approaches including narrative pedagogy and integrating the competencies in simulation A new chapter exploring the application of clinical learning and the critical nature of inter-professional teamwork A revised chapter on the mirror of education and practice to better understand teaching approaches This ground-breaking unique text addresses the challenges of preparing future nurses with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) necessary to continuously improve the health care system in which they practice.




Enhancing Surgical Performance


Book Description

Enhancing Surgical Performance: A Primer in Non-Technical Skills explains why non-technical skills are vital for safe and effective performance in the operating theatre. The book provides a full account, with supporting empirical evidence, of the Non-Technical Skills for Surgeons (NOTSS) system and behavioural rating framework, which helps identify




Communication Competence


Book Description

Almost everything that matters to humans is derived from and through communication. Just because people communicate every day, however, does not mean that they are communicating competently. In fact, evidence indicates that there is a substantial need for better interpersonal skills among a significant proportion of the populace. Furthermore, "dark side" experiences in everyday life abound, and features of modern society pose new challenges that make the concept of communication competence increasingly complex. The Handbook of Communication Competence brings together scholars from across the globe to examine these various facets of communication competence, including its history, its essential components, and its applications in interpersonal, group, institutional, and societal contexts. The book provides a state-of-the-art review for scholars and graduate students, as well as practitioners in counseling, developmental, health care, educational, intercultural, and human resource management contexts, illustrating that communication competence is vital to health, relationships, and all collective human endeavors.




Improving Diagnosis in Health Care


Book Description

Getting the right diagnosis is a key aspect of health care - it provides an explanation of a patient's health problem and informs subsequent health care decisions. The diagnostic process is a complex, collaborative activity that involves clinical reasoning and information gathering to determine a patient's health problem. According to Improving Diagnosis in Health Care, diagnostic errors-inaccurate or delayed diagnoses-persist throughout all settings of care and continue to harm an unacceptable number of patients. It is likely that most people will experience at least one diagnostic error in their lifetime, sometimes with devastating consequences. Diagnostic errors may cause harm to patients by preventing or delaying appropriate treatment, providing unnecessary or harmful treatment, or resulting in psychological or financial repercussions. The committee concluded that improving the diagnostic process is not only possible, but also represents a moral, professional, and public health imperative. Improving Diagnosis in Health Care, a continuation of the landmark Institute of Medicine reports To Err Is Human (2000) and Crossing the Quality Chasm (2001), finds that diagnosis-and, in particular, the occurrence of diagnostic errorsâ€"has been largely unappreciated in efforts to improve the quality and safety of health care. Without a dedicated focus on improving diagnosis, diagnostic errors will likely worsen as the delivery of health care and the diagnostic process continue to increase in complexity. Just as the diagnostic process is a collaborative activity, improving diagnosis will require collaboration and a widespread commitment to change among health care professionals, health care organizations, patients and their families, researchers, and policy makers. The recommendations of Improving Diagnosis in Health Care contribute to the growing momentum for change in this crucial area of health care quality and safety.