NURS FPX 4010 Assessment 2: Interview and Interdisciplinary Issue Identification

A nurse leader from City General Hospital, a large healthcare facility, was interviewed to gain insights into the hospital’s challenges. The hospital provides various medical services, including emergency care, cardiology, and paediatrics. It is situated in a bustling metropolis and serves a diverse patient population. Although City General Hospital is well-known for its advanced cardiac care unit, it has struggled with staffing shortages and increasing patient loads. This has resulted in adverse effects on both patient care and staff morale. The interview aimed to explore the hospital’s difficulties, particularly about interdisciplinary collaboration and patient care.

NURS FPX 4010 Assessment 2: Summary of Interview

During the interview, Jane Doe, the Nurse Manager of the Cardiology Unit, discussed her responsibilities. She supervises nursing staff, coordinates with other departments to ensure effective patient treatment, and oversees patient care. Jane has over 15 years of experience and has witnessed various hospital operations and culture changes. According to her, staffing shortages and limited resources are significant challenges. These issues have led to increased workloads for nurses, affecting their ability to provide optimal care. She noted that previous leadership initiatives focused mainly on cost-cutting, reducing staff numbers and resources, exacerbating the problem. Jane described the hospital’s culture as traditionally hierarchical, sometimes hindering effective communication and collaboration across different departments. However, she mentioned recent efforts to foster a more collaborative environment, encouraging interdisciplinary team meetings and joint decision-making.

Jane recounted her experience working with an interdisciplinary team while implementing a new patient care protocol in the cardiology unit. The team included doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and administrative staff. This experience was enriching, as it brought diverse perspectives and expertise together, leading to more holistic patient care. The issue of inefficient patient discharge processes was identified during the interview. This problem often results in prolonged hospital stays and patient and family dissatisfaction. Jane believed an interdisciplinary approach involving nursing, medical, administrative, and social work departments could streamline the process, improving patient experience and operational efficiency.

An improvement project focusing on the patient discharge process could greatly benefit from the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle. Planning would involve gathering data on current discharge times and identifying bottlenecks. The ‘Do’ phase would see the implementation of new procedures on a small scale, followed by studying the outcomes and impact on discharge times (Bendowska & Baum, 2023). Based on these findings, the hospital could refine the process and consider broader implementation.