IHI PS 104 Teamwork and Communication

When speaking with a patient who has limited understanding of health care terminology, which of the following words would you likely want to avoid?

All of the above

In health care, briefings:

Are a type of structured communication.

Which of the following is likely to be the most immediate result of building an effective health care team?

Safer care

Effective team leaders:

Seek input from all members of the team.

A primary care provider (PCP) refers her patient to a specialist for a sleep study. Which of the following steps would represent the END of a closed-loop referral process? (Hint: Think of the nine-step process this lesson recommends).

The PCP discusses the treatment plan with the patient, after communicating about it with the specialist.

Effective structured communication:

Includes SBAR, briefings, and debriefings

According to US studies, approximately what portion of serious adverse events can be linked to miscommunication between caregivers when patients are transferred or handed over?

80 percent

What is "SBAR"?

A system for delivering information

If the team had taken time for a short conversation prior to the procedure, what do you think they could have accomplished?

Acquainted the team members, Verified the experience and comfort level of the team members to provide the care, Identified what drugs were going to be used, Outlined the plan, Prevented the adverse event

Effective health care teams have several important characteristics, including:

Effective communication techniques

One reason it's critical for caregivers to improve their teams' effectiveness is:

Effective teams reduce the risk of errors by providing a "safety net" for individual caregivers.

Which of the following is NOT always a key part of the medication reconciliation process?

Following up with the patient to ensure he or she takes the medication as prescribed

The unit leaders are trying to figure out what changes they should make to prevent this treatment delay from happening again. Given what you know about the incident, what change would you recommend?

Implement the use of critical language in the ICU.

The clinic physician makes the following statements. Which part of the statement is the background?

Mr. Chan has a two-week history of fatigue, shortness of breath, and easy bruising. He was seen yesterday with lab revealing a hematocrit of 24 and numerous immature white cells in the peripheral smear.

When considering your role within a health care team, it is important to keep in mind that:

No matter what profession you belong to, you will be a member of the team and must work intentionally toward making that team effective.

Which is the following statements best describes the role of patients in ensuring safety across the continuum of care?

Patients often need to be able to act out precise recommendations when they leave the health care setting for home.

Referring to the video on the previous page, in your opinion, what was the underlying cause of the adverse event?

The culture of the hospital did not promote safety as the highest priority.

As a nurse practitioner in a small, rural urgent care clinic, you believe that your clinic team works well together. Which of the following facts would best support your belief?

The team routinely takes a moment to discuss the plan and voice concerns before doing a procedure.

Which of the following process improvements would have been the best option for the PCP to prevent this adverse event?

Using teach-back to confirm patient understanding

In the question above, does the physician give a complete SBAR through his statements?

Yes