Management Proposal: Improving Nursing Staff Communication

I. Background a. Description of problem or issue Communication is a crucial tool within the field of healthcare. Effective communication among nursing staff members is imperative in the provision of high quality patient care. A wide body of literature has identified lack of effective communication as a significant factor affecting nursing staff relationships and the delivery of patient centered care (Cohen, 2013). Previous studies have shown that poor communication can result to medical errors, delays in treatment, misunderstanding and even severe patient outcomes. Moreover, poor communication can lead to lack of satisfaction among the staff, high turnover rates and low morale among the staff members (Yoder-Wise, 2019). Additionally, there have been discoveries of an increase in the number of patients who have developed delirium in the course of the hospital stay. There are high chances that the problem can be resolved by improving communication. b. Impact on patient safety and quality of care Poor communication among the nursing staff members has adverse effects. When there is a communication breakdown, conveying important communication can be daunting which in turn leads to misunderstandings, medical errors and even delay in treatment. As a result of these adversities, patient safety becomes questionable and the quality of care is significantly reduced (Cohen, 2013). A good example is administration of wrong medication as a result of poor communication during administration. Furthermore, poor communication can also affect the quality of care due to delayed diagnoses and treatment.