Situational Leadership for Emergency Department Communication

Introduction: Inter-Professional Communication in Emergency Departments

For health care professionals to fulfill their duties effectively and deliver quality service to patients, inter-professional communication among hospital personnel must be strong and fluid. While a sense of professional territory naturally exists within each discipline, it should not become a barrier to collaboration among health workers from different backgrounds. There is a need to formulate a working communication strategy to address the persistent inter-professional problems in hospital environments generally, and in the emergency department in particular.

As critical as this issue is, a review of inter-professional communication in emergency departments reveals a seemingly unfavorable situation among practitioners working in one of the most significant subsectors of the health profession (Varjoshani, Hosseini, Khankeh, & Ahmadi, 2014). Among the numerous issues affecting the department, this paper examines the problem of the boisterous atmosphere in the emergency department, explores the contributing barriers to this persistent problem, and formulates a leadership strategy designed to produce a lasting solution.

Barriers to Effective Teamwork in the Emergency Department

Effective healthcare delivery in the emergency department requires a carefully selected team of qualified personnel, including nurses, physicians, and technicians. As in any working environment, these inter-professional team members need a highly committed team spirit to work successfully. Unfortunately, the rowdy atmosphere in the department has been a significant hindrance to effective inter-professional teamwork among medical personnel. Varjoshani et al. (2014) highlighted the causes of this tumultuous environment as including overcrowded emergency departments, stressful working conditions, ineffective management, and inefficient communication channels.

For instance, an overcrowded emergency department is a major information barrier that prevents effective data exchange between physicians and nurses, and in some cases causes friction among practitioners in the course of their duties. Beyond that, overcrowding typically leads to both physical and emotional stress for personnel, which can in turn result in errors, overreactions, and other unprofessional conduct. Records indicate that, among all hospital departments, the emergency department is where most medical errors occur (Varjoshani et al., 2014). The critical condition of patients requires many professionals to be present simultaneously, which can cause communication failures responsible for role conflict, ambiguity, interpersonal power struggles, and other inter-professional disputes commonly witnessed in the health sector. Studies have traced the root of these problems to factors that, according to Morley & Cashell (2017), include "compensation schemes, professional practice regulation, institutional policies, and the physical environment factors which may be beyond the control of the team."

References

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Varjoshani, N. J., Hosseini, M. A., Khankeh, H. R., & Ahmadi, F. (2014). Tumultuous atmosphere (physical, mental), the main barrier to emergency department inter-professional communication. Global Journal of Health Science, 7, 1916–9744.

What is situational leadership? (2014). Retrieved from http://online.stu.edu/articles/education/what-is-situational-leadership.aspx