4 Tips to Better Healthcare Team Collaboration

One of the largest contributing factors to the success of any business is if employees are able to work well together as a team. It’s obvious when teams work cohesively together. They outperform and outproduce those that don’t. About 75% of employers rate teamwork and collaboration as “very important” within their workplaces, and a Salesforce survey found that 86% of the participants believed that lack of collaboration was responsible for workplace failures.

Compared to people who work alone, working on a team enables employees to be faster, think quickly on their feet and be more effective in their work. Collaborating also makes employees more responsible, which raises their engagement and motivation levels.

Collaborating effectively with other nurses, doctors and healthcare staff is part of the professional responsibilities of any healthcare worker. Even if someone on a team is difficult to work with, it’s vital that notes are shared within the team to ensure that patients are receiving the best quality care possible.

If your team isn’t collaborating as well as it could, follow our tips below:

Communicate Effectively

Communication amongst the nursing staff is usually less difficult than communication with other departments because nurses usually understand each other and speak the same lingo. However, communicating with physicians can present more of a challenge because they are not always as involved in the day-to-day care of patients. One of the keys to communicating with doctors and other healthcare professionals is to recognize the different ways each approaches patient care.

When you communicate your thoughts effectively, the receiver is going to be able to process that information faster, thus making collaborating more effective. If you are not a strong communicator, this will take practice. Try taking a quick class on effective communication. The American Management Association has many different communication courses.

Handle Conflict With Care

Within diverse teams, there will be differences in opinion. These differences are not only inevitable, but they are also necessary for growth and collaboration. However, it’s important that you are prepared to deal with these types of issues professionally.

When faced with a difficult problem or situation, conflict can actually spark innovation and creativity. In order for issues to turn into solutions, conflicts need to be constructive to build trust and understanding within the team. If you need help dealing with workplace conflict, read a few articles and practice resolving a problem in a mock example.

Be A Leader

As a nurse, you are a leader in patient care as you provide expertise, guidance and support. There are more people counting on you beyond your patients. To be a role model, collaborate, ask for help when you need it, work with coworkers to help solve issues and be generous with your praise. In order to succeed in the healthcare field, you need to work well on a team. Take a look at these healthcare leadership courses that can help you become an effective leader.

Look At Yourself

If you want to become a better communicator, you need to start by looking in the mirror. Effective collaboration starts with effective communication, and that starts with you. If you are unsure about your own communication style or how you prefer to work, don’t expect others to figure it out.

If you’re new to this kind of self-analysis, ask someone you trust to help. Before you reach the point of throwing down your stethoscope and walking out the door, become aware of your own triggers and develop techniques for dealing with them. Find out how well you communicate by taking this simple quiz.

Team collaboration makes for a better workforce, happier employees, better patient care and much more. If you have tips on how your team collaborates, comment them below or tweet us at FreedomHCS.

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