Jason Barber N362 Mindful Communication- For Better Collaboration This article, Mindful Communication: A Novel Approach to Improving

Delegation and Increasing Patient Safety, from the ANA website discusses a very important topic in nursing today, communication in regards to delegating an ever increasing nursing workload. There are many changes happening in the healthcare industry as a whole that need some serious attention. The article accurately states, Changes in reimbursement models with declining reimbursement rates, a current and projected healthcare workforce shortage, and a rising case-mix acuity have combined to create the perfect storm, jeopardizing the delivery of safe and effective care (Anthony & Vital, 2010). There is a common theme in todays healthcare system with an increase workload for nurses without financially adjusting to appropriately compensate for that increased workload. It is understandable from a business perspective if just looking at it from a cost analysis perspective but not from a quality of care perspective. Hospitals have to save money somehow but at what cost? I dont think a decline in safety and patient care should be the result of that mathematical compensation. It takes out the very part of the goal of healthcare providers, providing safe, timely, quality care to patients. To achieve a cost effective model of care delivery, RNs must depend on, and delegate to the unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP) who assist them in providing direct care. The RNs ability to delegate effectively is essential for obtaining safe outcomes and quality care (Anthony & Vital, 2010). From this, we can see the importance of effectively communicating to delegate our nursing goals to support staff such as the UAP. Cherry and Jacob state, Communication is a frequently cited cause of errors in the delivery of health care, including being the leading cause of sentinel events (p. 420, 2011). Cherry and Jacob go on to say that communication

competence has become a critical skill that leads to increased improved quality of care and patient safety (2011). Anthony and Vidal say that bidirectional RN and UAP feedback is critical to improving clarity, reasoning, and understanding of delegation. This is a way to clarify what it is exactly the RN is expecting from the UAP. We see this on a nurse to doctor level when we as nurses repeat back a medication order over the phone from the provider. This simple act can greatly improve RN and UAP symbiosis and lessen adverse patient outcomes. Taking it even further, this article discusses mindful communication. Mindful communication practice is recognizing the significance of the facts and how they pertain to the patient situation (Anthony & Vital, 2010). As a healthcare team, we must all understand why we are taking the actions we are taking. An example given in the article discusses the missed opportunity for a nurse to tell the UAP why they were to get a blood glucose level on one of her patients. The UAP added it to their list of glucose checks for a later time, while the nurses patient was possibly having a hypoglycemic event. By simply telling the UAP why she needed the glucose check, the UAP would have been more mindful and understand the importance of obtaining the sample immediately rather than later. I think we as nurses need to be mindful of our mindful communication in regards to delegating tasks to other healthcare team members. After all, we will ultimately be responsible for the actions we delegate to others. We might as well take the time to explain to our support staff the reasoning behind our actions through mindful communication.

Resources: Anthony, M., & Vidal, K. (2010). Mindful communication: A novel approach to improving delegation and increasing patient safety. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 15(2), doi: 10.3912/OJIN.Vol15No2Man02 Cherry, B. & Jacob, S. (2011). Contemporary nursing: issues, trends and management (5thed). St. Louis: Elsevier.