Capella 4010 Assessment 3 : Interdisciplinary Plan Proposal

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Capella University

Capella 4010 Assessment 3

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Date

Interdisciplinary Plan Proposal

Interdisciplinary collaboration in healthcare is critical for ensuring patient safety and preventing medical and medication errors. It involves bringing together professionals from different disciplines, such as doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals, to work together in a coordinated manner to provide high-quality care to patients. Interprofessional collaboration promotes the sharing of knowledge, expertise, and resources across healthcare disciplines. This approach allows healthcare professionals to collaborate on patient care plans, identify potential medication errors, and develop strategies to prevent them. By pooling their knowledge and expertise, interdisciplinary teams can identify and address problems more effectively and develop more comprehensive and effective treatment plans (Ortmann et al., 2021).

It helps to improve communication between healthcare professionals, which is critical in preventing medication errors. By working together, healthcare professionals can ensure that patients receive the correct medication at the appropriate dose, frequency, and duration, and can identify and address any potential drug interactions or adverse effects.

Objectives and Predictions for an Evidence-Based Interdisciplinary Plan 

The main objective is to reduce the incidence of medication errors and build a culture in the facility that encourages reporting errors. Medication errors can result in harmful and potentially deadly consequences for patients, including adverse drug reactions, allergic reactions, and other complications. By reducing medication errors, healthcare providers can ensure that patients receive the proper medication at the prescribed dose, at the right time, and through the right route of administration (Wolf & Hughes, 2019). This objective can be achieved through the implementation of evidence-based interdisciplinary plans that involve various healthcare professionals working together to identify and report medication errors. Implementing the EHR can help track the record of medication administration, reducing the risk. Communication and collaboration between healthcare providers are critical to the success of these plans, as they can help ensure that all team members are informed, engaged, and committed to achieving the goal of reducing medication errors.

Questions and Prediction 

Question: How can an interdisciplinary team comprising healthcare professionals implement a medication management system to reduce medication errors related to incorrect dosages or drug interactions?

Prediction: Establish an interdisciplinary team comprising physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals to identify medication errors and implement a plan to reduce them. Developing a comprehensive medication management system that includes medication reconciliation, standardization of medication administration, and electronic prescribing systems to reduce errors related to incorrect dosages or drug interactions.

Question: How can healthcare staff be effectively trained and educated to ensure the successful implementation of evidence-based strategies for reducing medication errors?

Prediction: Conducting regular education and training sessions for healthcare providers will be needed to increase their understanding and knowledge of safe medication administration 

Question: Which practices and technology can be helpful in reducing medication errors?

Predictions: Technology such as barcode scanning and automated dispensing systems improve medication tracking and reduce errors related to incorrect medication administration. EHR can be used to analyze medication error reports to identify patterns and trends and adjust the plan accordingly.

Question: What are the expenses associated with the implementation of the proposed evidence-based interdisciplinary plan to reduce medication errors?

Prediction:  The costs of the plan to reduce medication errors may include expenses related to training health professionals, implementing EHR systems, conducting regular audits and assessments, and potentially hiring additional staff to manage the process. But this is a one-time investment and will overcome the medication errors the facility is facing.

Question: What will be the methods used to determine success?

Prediction: A few methods can be targeted, e.g., conducting regular audits of medication administration and management processes to assess plan adherence and identify improvement areas (Khin et al., 2020). Another method could be monitoring medication error rates and comparing them to baseline data to determine the effectiveness of the interdisciplinary plan in reducing errors (Manias et al., 2020). Lastly, solicit feedback from healthcare providers and patients to identify areas for improvement and evaluate satisfaction with the medication management system.

Change Theory and Leadership Strategy 

Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) is a change theory that can be used to implement the evidence-based interdisciplinary plan proposed for reducing medication errors.

The PDSA cycle consists of four phases:

1. Plan: In this phase, the interdisciplinary team comes up with a plan for the implementation of the medication management system, which includes medication reconciliation, standardization of medication administration, and electronic prescribing systems. The team identifies the goals, objectives, and resources needed for the plan’s successful implementation.
2. Do: In this phase, the team executes the plan by implementing the medication management system. This could include training healthcare staff, implementing EHR systems, and setting up automated dispensing systems.
3. Study: In this phase, the team evaluates the results of the medication management system’s implementation by measuring medication error rates, analyzing patterns and trends in medication error reports, and conducting regular audits of medication administration and management processes.
4. Act: In this phase, the team uses the findings from the study phase to adjust the medication management system to improve its effectiveness. This could include modifying the medication reconciliation process or updating the electronic prescribing system to better track medication administration.

By using the PDSA cycle, the interdisciplinary team can continuously improve the medication management system and reduce medication errors. The cycle’s iterative nature allows for adjustments and modifications to the plan based on the data and feedback collected in the study phase (Katowa-Mukwato et al., 2021).

Reducing pharmaceutical errors can be achieved with the use of transformational leadership. Transformational leaders encourage and inspire their employees to attain their objectives and offer assistance and resources to make the plan’s execution easier. By sharing the project’s vision, forming bonds with the team, offering assistance and resources, and praising and rewarding achievement, transformational leaders can encourage buy-in for the project plan (Trakulsunti et al., 2022).

Real-world examples relevant to the healthcare organization can include assigning a nurse leader to oversee the implementation of the plan, conducting regular team meetings to discuss progress and challenges, creating a culture that encourages reporting of medication errors, and providing ongoing education and training for healthcare staff. By using the PDSA cycle and transformational leadership, the interdisciplinary team can successfully collaborate and implement the medication management system, resulting in a reduction in medication errors and improved patient outcomes (Chegini et al., 2020).

Collaboration Needed By an Interdisciplinary Team 

Effective collaboration among interdisciplinary healthcare professionals is crucial for achieving the objective of reducing medication errors. Collaboration involves working together, sharing ideas, and having open communication to ensure that all team members are working towards the same goal. Collaboration is also important for reducing misunderstandings, minimizing conflicts, and maximizing team performance. The literature suggests that effective interdisciplinary collaboration can be achieved by promoting mutual respect, valuing the contributions of all team members, building trust, promoting open communication, and establishing shared goals and expectations.

For example, a real-world example of effective interdisciplinary collaboration is the use of a medication reconciliation team (Stolldorf et al., 2021). In this case, a team consisting of nurses, physicians, and pharmacists works together to identify medication errors, review medication histories, and develop a plan to address any discrepancies. Each team member brings a unique perspective to the table, and by working together, they can identify and address potential medication errors before they occur. This collaboration has been shown to be effective in reducing medication errors and improving patient outcomes. Other examples of effective interdisciplinary collaboration include interdisciplinary rounds, care coordination meetings, and joint care plans.

In accordance with Dahmash (2021), nurse practitioners will provide the medication, check the administered drug against the patient’s electronic health record, submit any inaccuracies to pharmacy professionals, consult with the doctor, and re-administer the medicine once the mistakes have been corrected. The pharmacy technician will dispense the drug, print the patient’s record along with the pharmaceutical details, inform the nurse of any changes to the drug’s packaging, and correct any mistakes that the nursing staff may have noticed.

The nurse supervisor will oversee the administration of resources, interventions efficacy monitoring, management of budgets, and resolving disputes. The nurse leader will have the responsibility regarding scheduling the work, managing workload, advocating for nurses to participate in shared decision-making, and analyse mistake analytics. The drug dosage and intended use of each prescription will be directly entered by doctors into EHRs and error reporting tools.

In order to decrease pharmaceutical errors, the collaboration approach entails position-based assistance, and collaborative decision-making, including issue analyses utilising root-cause analysis. Since the job of a nurse practitioner differs from that of a pharmacist or nurse manager, for instance, it helps identify the unit where a medication error occurred.

Organizational Resources, and Financial Budget 

All of the doctors who are responsible for the prescription of the medicine, as well as the pharmacists, and nurses who give it will be needed by the organisation. Additionally, each unit’s nurse manager and nurse leader will work with informatics nursing staff to compile statistical results of the intervention’s effectiveness. Additionally, the error report system will be put in place, healthcare personnel will be trained, and anytime an error occurs, the equipment will be troubleshot by IT specialists and software usage experts. A network structure comprising EHRs, servers running on the cloud, and network protocols for communication will also be necessary for the organisation. The organisation possesses some of the aforementioned resources but will need a budgeting plan to implement the plan. 

Training and Education:

• Cost of hiring an expert in medication safety to conduct training sessions: $5,000
• Cost of training materials and supplies: $2,500

EHR Implementation:

• Cost of purchasing and implementing EHR system: $100,000
• Cost of software customization and system integration: $25,000
• Cost of staff training and technical support: $10,000

Regular audits and assessments:

• Cost of hiring a medication safety officer to conduct regular audits and assessments: $50,000 per year

It includes one-time costs of $135,000 for EHR implementation and staff training, including the total estimated cost of $192,500.

Impact on Resources if Nothing is Done:

• Continuation of medication errors, resulting in patient harm and potential lawsuits.
• Increased costs associated with treating adverse drug reactions and other complications.
• Decreased patient satisfaction and loss of trust in the healthcare organization.

References 

Chegini, Z., Kakemam, E., Asghari Jafarabadi, M., & Janati, A. (2020). The impact of patient safety culture and the leader coaching behaviour of nurses on the intention to report errors: a cross-sectional survey. BMC Nursing, 19, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.2.21535/v4 

Dahmash, D. T. (2021). Medication Administration Challenges Among Children and Young People Aged 0 to 18 Years Old (A mixed method approach) (Doctoral dissertation, Aston University). https://publications.aston.ac.uk/id/eprint/43503/ 

Katowa-Mukwato, P., Mwiinga-Kalusopa, V., Chitundu, K., Kanyanta, M., Chanda, D., Mwelwa, M. M., … & Carrier, J. (2021). Implementing Evidence Based Practice nursing using the PDSA model: Process, lessons and implications. International Journal of Africa Nursing Sciences, 14, 100261. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijans.2020.100261 

Khin, N. A., Francis, G., Mulinde, J., Grandinetti, C., Skeete, R., Yu, B., … & Vinter, S. (2020). Data integrity in global clinical trials: discussions from joint US food and drug administration and UK medicines and healthcare products regulatory agency good clinical practice workshop. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 108(5), 949-963. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpt.1794

Capella 4010 Assessment 3

Manias, E., Kusljic, S., & Wu, A. (2020). Interventions to reduce medication errors in adult medical and surgical settings: a systematic review. Therapeutic Advances in Drug Safety, 11, 2042098620968309.  https://doi.org/10.1177/2042098620968309 

Ortmann, M. J., Johnson, E. G., Jarrell, D. H., Bilhimer, M., Hayes, B. D., Mishler, A., … & Zimmerman, D. E. (2021). ASHP guidelines on emergency medicine pharmacist services. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 78(3), 261-275.  https://doi.org/10.1093/ajhp/zxaa378 

Stolldorf, D. P., Ridner, S. H., Vogus, T. J., Roumie, C. L., Schnipper, J. L., Dietrich, M. S., … & Kripalani, S. (2021). Implementation strategies in the context of medication reconciliation: a qualitative study. Implementation Science Communications, 2(1), 1-14.  https://doi.org/10.1186/s43058-021-00162-5 

Trakulsunti, Y., Antony, J., Edgeman, R., Cudney, B., Dempsey, M., & Brennan, A. (2022). Reducing pharmacy medication errors using Lean Six Sigma: A Thai hospital case study. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 33(5-6), 664-682.   https://doi.org/10.1080/14783363.2021.1885292 

Wolf, Z. R., & Hughes, R. G. (2019). Best practices to decrease infusion-associated medication errors. Journal of Infusion Nursing, 42(4), 183-192. https://doi.org/10.1097/nan.0000000000000348

Capella 4010 Assessment 3