Teamwork in Medicine is Critical for Quality Patient Care

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA

From KevinMD’s medical blog, guest post by Toni Brayer, MD shares a story where a team approach in medicine is critical for quality patient care.

Dr. Bryer writes:

“Medicine is a team sport and it is only when the team is humming and everyone is working together that patients can have good outcomes.  Hospital errors, medication errors, poor communication between doctors and nurses are prevented by adherence to protocols that everyone follows. It takes laser focus, measuring outcomes and a great deal of hard work to ensure everyone is pulling together in a hospital. The fact that these bedside nurses take the time to work on error reduction and patient safety is really amazing. Have you seen how hard nurses work? My hat is off to these dedicated care-givers.”

Bryer is exactly right when she writes “medicine is a team sport.”

A hospital cannot run without a multidisciplinary team approach.  Communication between doctors, nurses and other members of the team is vital for positive patient outcomes and to ensure quality patient care.

While behind the scenes, pressures mount for hospitals to control costs and a health care system struggles with health care reform, it’s paramount that doctors, nurses and other members of the health care team continue to work together for quality patient care.

As professionals, doctors and nurses are expected to provide the best care for their patients.

Dr. Bryer writes that that while health care reform is being discussed in Washington, doctors and nurses are quietly going about their business to provide the best health care.

While that may be true, it’s imperative that doctors and nurses don’t sit quietly while decisions are being made on health care.  Doctors and nurses are on the front-line of health care and they need to share their voice when it comes to health care reform.

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