NR_554 Week 6 Discussion, Committees and Communication

Committees and Communication NAME Chamberlain College of Nursing NR 554: Nurse Leader and Healthcare Policy DATE Communication effectiveness is a key factor throughout nursing regardless of the level or type of practice. Select a specific venue where healthcare policy discussions may be held. What communication strategy would you use to communicate with stakeholders on politics, economics, team building, legal, or regulation? Week 6: Committees and Communication Effective communication lies at the heart of policies requiring stakeholder engagement. Effective organizational communicators know that messages need to be delivered multiple times in multiple ways to have the most impact. Employee communication needs and preferences differ, different messages require different methods and busy hospital settings can mean that messages get lost. Communication strategies can be verbal, nonverbal, or visual (Hood, 2013). According to Morténius, Hildingh, & Fridlund, "strategic communication is the purposeful use of communication by an organization to fulfill its mission” (2016). The venue I attended in September 2017 to learn more about health policies was a Legislative & Health Policy Conference offered by my organization. The target audience was nurses at all professional levels and other healthcare professionals employed by the Cleveland Clinic healthcare system. The conference focused on the dramatic changes in healthcare policy and legislation and the ways that nurses are uniquely positioned with perspective and expertise to drive key issues affecting our patients. Topics included opioid crisis, infant mortality, and nurses on boards. Lecturers used verbal and visual media such as PowerPoint presentations and handouts during presentations. Using multiple channels to communicate with various audiences will increase the odds that communications are received and understood. To communicate change within my department regarding implementing an evidence-based practice a strategic communication plan must be constructed to engage the target audience. A strategic communication plan consists of identifing key audiences, their interests, and preferred methods of communication; creating key messages as a frame for understanding the larger context for organizational success; establishing the framework that is required for communication; provide guidance to stakeholders and employees about the form and content of information disseminated; educate essential stakeholders, including all employee,about their role in supporting the practice change; and create a platform to monitor progress, evaluate message efficacy, and provide accountability for results (Blake, Bonk, Heimpel, & Wright, 2013). Strategic communication is an investment to ensure that stakeholders fully understand the mission and values of the organization. Utilizing multiple methods communication such as face to face interactions, internal emails, workshops, displays, and PowerPoint presentations ensures that the target audience receives the message and understands the intent of the change. References Blake, A., Bonk, K., Heimpel, D., & Wright, C. S. (2013). Effective Communications Strategies: Engaging the Media, Policymakers, and the Public. Child Welfare, 92(2), 217-233. Hood, Lucy. (2013). Leddy & Pepper's Conceptual Bases of Professional Nursing, 8th Edition. [Bookshelf Online]. Retrieved from Morténius, H., Hildingh, C., & Fridlund, B. (2016). Strategic Communication Intervention to Stimulate Interest in Research and Evidence-Based Practice: A 12-Year Follow-Up Study With Registered Nurses. Worldviews On Evidence-Based Nursing, 13(1), 42-49. doi:10.1111/wvn.12109 PROFESSOR RESPONSE TO POST: Carole, I love the strategic communication plan! Thanks for finding this for us. Any opportunity to use this in your practice setting? Please share how the you or the project lead used strategic communication. RESPONSE TO PROFESSOR: Dr. Fildes, In March I received an email from the Office of Nursing Quality and Practice department. The email was a Policy Bulletin that included policies that are in process of being standardized for Cleveland Clinic Health System (CCHS) Nursing Institute. The policies posted in the email are currently moving through the required review and approval process. A policy under review for the ED is to define a standardized process of reassessing patients in the Emergency Department. This could be an opportunity to utilize strategic communication. The purpose of electronic health records (EHR) is to increase end-user usability, increase efficiency and productivity, decrease medical errors, and increase ease of learning. The standardized documentation will improve nursing workflow and productivity as well as improve nursing communication for the emergency services patients that are transferred to an inpatient unit. The changes to improve the documentation should include collaboration between many departments and end users, to create an efficient and standardized documentation template. These departments involved should include nursing leadership, hospital leadership, information technology, and education. Also, involving nursing feedback in the standardization process is important as nurses play an important role in determining how care can be delivered in a safe, effective, and efficient way (Osheroff et al., 2012) including the documentation of care provided. Reference Osheroff, J., Teich, J., Levick, D., Saldana, L., Velasco, F., Sittig, D., Rodgers, K., & Jenders, R. (2012). Improving outcomes with clinical decision support: An implementer’s guide (2nd ed.). Chicago, IL: Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). RESPONSE TO PEER POST: Mayrelis, I read your post discussing the techniques of clarification and reflection for effective communication. I think feedback can also be added to those two techniques. Feedback is a critical skill for anyone in a leadership position. Giving feedback is a task leadership performs, again and again, letting people know where they are and where to go next in terms of expectations and goals - yours, their own, and the organizations. Effective leaders understand the power of feedback, but they always make sure that the delivery of feedback is constructive. They also strike a great balance between providing positive reinforcement and constructive feedback. Feedback is a useful tool for allowing conversation while reducing confusion. Continued feedback is important in organizations in order to continue aligned to visions and goals, create strategies, develop service improvements, and improve working relationships. Feedback is the information we all need to be truly effective in the workplace. In fact, the most effective leaders actively seek feedback to enhance their own performance.