The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) defines TEAMSTEPPS as “an evidence-based set of teamwork tools aimed at optimizing patient outcomes by improving communication and teamwork skills among healthcare professionals”. For our group assignment, we created a video presentation that included a clip showing a case scenario, and the group members discussed how each component of TEAMSTEPPS was demonstrated. The components are: team structure, leadership, situation monitoring, mutual support, and communication. Of these, situation monitoring resonated to me the most because I admit, there are times when I get too focused on a given task and I fail to look at what’s going on around me. I think this can also apply to doing simple things like clearing the walkway of cables and clutter so no one trips over them, or getting a chair for a post-surgery patient ambulating in the hallway so they can take breaks when they need to. These are tiny gestures but are pretty significant in avoiding accidents. Scanning the situation, anticipating needs, and spotting and correcting small misses that would otherwise cause full-blown mishaps are all very important for successful outcomes.
A big individual project we had for Leadership was writing a sentinel event paper. The Joint Commission defines a sentinel eventas any unanticipated event in a healthcare setting resulting in death or serious physical or psychological injury to a patient or patients, not related to the natural course of the patient's illness. As nurses, and especially nurse leaders, it is extremely important for us to recognize such events, analyze them, and develop strategies to ensure these events are avoided as much as possible.
My paper was about late recognition of sepsis and the subsequent delayed interventions resulting in the death of a patient, which I based on a true story. I developed a root cause analysis using a fish bone diagram, a corrective action plan including a logic model and implementation plan, and methods for evaluating the effectiveness of each proposed action.
Using evidence-based literature, I was able to apply a range of leadership skills through this assignment: conflict resolution, change management, and quality assurance.