Impact of Complacency and Lack of Assertiveness

Assessment Title

Human Factors are known to impact on collaboration and service user safety. Critically discuss the impact of complacency and lack of assertiveness on interprofessional teams in Health and Social care.

2000 words

Assessment Requirements

During the Interprofessional Education (IPE) teaching week there have been sessions and activities which have focused on interprofessional collaboration, human factors and service user safety. Several group discussions have considered how these concepts impact on each other. It is important to remember that such effects can be either positive or negative.

You will be analysing the 2 human factors of complacency and lack of assertiveness in relation to patient safety and interprofessional interactions.

A successful analysis should:

• Highlight the key issues
• Demonstrate in-depth knowledge and understanding
• Relate the theory to practice i.e. apply relevant literature and the ideas and knowledge discussed in the lectures and activities during IPE week to the chosen aspect.
• Will propose perceptive insights into relevant aspects and offer judgements on the quality of evidence
• Will use an extensive number of sources to support arguments

Format for the assignment

The work should include an introduction which clearly explains the key concepts of the title and outlines the specific areas that will be analysed giving relevant reasons for their inclusion. The introduction should be approximately 200 words.

The majority of the word count should be used in analysing the chosen issues (Lack of assertiveness and complacency) and carefully relating it to the impact of human factors in interprofessional collaboration and service user safety. It is suggested that approximately 800 words are written on each.

The final approx. 200 words should be used to draw a concise conclusion. This should clearly relate to the aspects analysed and highlight the important points. The conclusion should include some consideration of the impact of what has been learnt for future practice as a registered practitioner.

Points to remember

Behind every good essay is a plan or structure, which the writer then uses to construct their work. The more books and journal articles read the better because the academic quality of the work will be improved. Written work can then refer to the sources which most effectively support what is being written about.

ANSWER

Impact of Complacency and Lack of Assertiveness on Inter-professional Teams

Introduction 

Patient safety is the most vital aspect in nursing care if a facility intends to prevent patient harm and avoid unnecessary errors. Inter-professional collaboration is an essential part of every health organization (Nursing and Midwifery Council, 2020). If a team from various health care departments collaborates effectively, it facilitates a significant meeting of the patient’s complicated needs. A health organization that has a strong interprofessional ability can deliver unique health care elements to their clients. These elements may include patient safety, social construction, medical practice’s context and hazardous systems and cultural perseverance. Despite the various advantages of the interprofessional team, it might be a disadvantage to the facility if it has inadequate practices. These may, in turn, result in high patient mortality and safety problems. Between 2017 and 2018, the Care Quality Commission reported to England’s National Health Service 96% of the total human errors (Toffolutti & Stuckler, 2019). In health care facilities, human factors are critical individual performances that facilitate the medical teams’ performance and patient outcome. Complacency is the result of a person’s self-confidence. Assertiveness is the ability and skill to positively defend and stand up for people’s rights without aggressiveness. For a health care facility team to be successful and have the best patient outcome, they need to possess the two qualities.

Complacency 

Complacency is the result of a medical practitioner having self-confidence. In the case of complacency, a health care facility may undergo a huge threat in their program (Sauer, Chavaillaz & Wastell, 2016) If complacency occurs in a health facility, it may include various effects on the organization. These effects may include a lack of the necessary financial aid an organization needs for its normal operations, loss of clients, and a competitive edge. A health care industry may believe they offer the best to their patient if they have self-confidence, which may not be the case. As a result, the health industry may lose its clients because of complacency, as the care provided is not as efficient as it should be. This can happen because they believe they provide sufficient care to the patient, yet they do not (Sacks et al., 2015). As a result, they end up losing their loyal clients. It is also essential to note that a health facility with an extremely hierarchical structure may affect team cognitions and may result in disputes between interprofessional teams hence poor patient experiences.

According to the never Events surgical reports, between 2016 and 2017, hospitals in the United Kingdom had 38 death cases because of rigid hierarchical structures and complacency (Sanchez et al., 2017). The hierarchical structures were against one talking on how complacency negatively impacted a patient or a facility. For example, a young woman, Elaine Bromiley, died because of a medical error where she was induced with anesthesia procedure (Friedman et al., 2015). Even though the nurses working in the team understood the patient needed the procedure and they gave the equipment for it, they could not challenge or question the surgeon because the hierarchical barriers that existed between them affected them. Such crises happen because of complacency, and when doctors and nurses in charge ignore the information they receive from their team members, information that could change a patient’s life. As a result, patient safety could be compromised and might result in death cases in facilities.

Self-confidence and independently working ability are essential in a team. When a team works as one, it presents them with the chance to focus and pay attention to certain professional aspects, open communication and constraint opportunities (Helmreich & Merritt, 2019). However, if a team does not work together, it affects the patient and the involved team members. Communication is an essential part of patient-centered care that an interprofessional team can provide to the patients. If people effectively communicate with one another, they develop the best possible solution for a given scenario. As a result, the team provides the best care for their patients. Unfortunately, suppose a team supervisor chooses to make the necessary decisions or criticize others’ opinions whenever they share. In that case, their morale at work goes down, and in some cases, it may lead to low self-esteem. Therefore, as a nurse in charge, every opinion that one makes regarding a particular patient must decide that every team member contributed towards and an agreement was made (Houghton  et al., 2020). Every team member should have an equal opportunity to give their opinion, and no one should receive criticisms for airing their opinion in a team.

Sharing awareness in an interprofessional activity is essential because it gives room for appreciating and respecting other team members’ roles and has a similar perspective in terms of the team’s goal. In the hospital and health center facilities, high mortality rates occur because there is usually a lack of interpersonal support from team members. In this case, complacency is present because there is interprofessional negligence (Aberese-Ako et al., 2015). The team leader or supervisor did not support his team members’ opinions and believed every group member might be satisfied by their performance. For example, a person may come to the facility with a head injury. However, not a single nurse or team member relates his head injury to domestic injury. The team leader may decide to treat the child for a fall, yet deny other members the chance to give their opinions. In this case, complacency is evident, and its negative effect is as well. Therefore, instead of professionals assuming various things about a patient, they can communicate with their team to hear them out on their opinions. Doing so prevents the occurrence of complacency and plays an essential role in situational awareness (Schot, Tummers, & Noordegraaf, 2020). As a result, it promotes attentive safety, team member’s involvement and good team working in the decision-making process.

Lack of Assertiveness

Assertiveness is a person’s normal skill that allows them to stand up and defend other people’s rights. There are better ways to defend other people’s rights and be heard without them being offensive or rude (Green, 2016). For instance, a nurse may say, “I do not like your idea” instead of saying, “your idea sounds stupid.” Therefore, it is essential to note that assertiveness is vital in medical care, and lack of it may lead to low self-esteem. In health care, if a person lacks self-esteem, they may not be confident enough to communicate and share their opinions with their team members. In addition to this, a lack of assertiveness may lead to lower social and health care interactions because they do not have the confidence to share their opinions. People in health care and any working environment that previously experienced bullying have lower self-assertiveness and lower labor participation than those who have no such experiences (Fang et al., 2020). Therefore, it is essential to note that assertiveness is an essential part of the health care environment and work because it protects the patients and promotes clear instructions to the team.

Effective teamwork expects every person to understand and learn everybody’s multidisciplinary development and responsibility. Doing so helps them adhere to the different cultural respect and mutual trust between everyone in the team (Moe & Brataas, 2016). However, it is essential always to remember that human factors affect collaboration in teamwork, and the existing differences may result in inefficient information exchange. This may breakdown or cause patient safety crises. A nurse’s inability to express their opinions and challenge or question the decisions their superiors make, more so when the decision is wrong in a life-threatening situation, is a symbol of a nurse’s incompetence (Johnstone, 2019). The nurse is considered incompetent because not challenging or openly giving their opinion may result in losing a patient. For example, a nurse may be worried about the radiation heat in the theatre but may not be able to deliver the found information to the respective professionals. In such a case, it is clear that the nurse’s lack of assertiveness is affected by her poor communication skill, which is an essential aspect in this area and the provision of patient-centered care.

Effective communication centrality encourages doctors, nurses and radiographers to create an environment suitable enough to reflect on the self-confidence and experiences that have positive contributions to the patients. In an interprofessional team, lack of assertiveness and concerns on team members’ voicing leads to contradictions in the performance and the patient care provided (Whitley, 2018). The occurrence of lack of assertiveness when team members perform on higher performances, and they feel they cannot challenge the doctors they are working with. Such an environment prevents team members from effectively giving their opinions and feedback. Sometimes, superiors give criticizing comments and often attack the juniors in the team in case they give their comments. However, extreme assertiveness is also not good for teamwork because it lowers team performance and leads to dominance. With dominance from some people in a team, there is a hindrance in the critical decision-making process because extreme assertiveness comes to a barrier, affecting patient safety.

According to different studies, 30-50% f IV catheters lead to complications in patients before completing care (Balli et al., 2019). Therefore, in most cases, it usually requires a nurse to install a new device to prevent this error. Participation and evaluation improvement of a team may help reduce if not fully prevent the unnecessary risk of infection, pain and patient treatment delay. This can only occur if the team members challenge or be more assertive to their consultant and offer their opinions during such a procedure. A healthcare worker needs to address a query immediately. It takes place if they are concerned about the safety of a patient. However, sometimes assertiveness may lead to a medical error. For example, one practicing assertiveness in a case where paying more attention is necessary may cause medical errors and compromise patient safety (Oliveira et al., 2015). In such a case, one might be expected to be less assertive and pay more attention to the ongoing procedure. Therefore, in this case, less assertiveness can show competence in a nurse or a team member in a surgical scenario. In care settings, settings where to save a patient’s life, team members need to make critical decisions, and radiographers should ensure they deliver the information clearly, and are as assertive as possible. Doing so provides health care service with solutions reasonably and humbly.

Conclusion 

Assertiveness and patient satisfaction are the leaders and guides of every health care facility. If these two factors are combined in a health care facility, the given facility is likely to experience financial problems, which often result from poor [patient outcomes. Human factors affect patients’ safety, and it destroys the interprofessional team’s attempt to work together collaboratively. Interprofessionalism should motivate and encourage team members to speak their minds when there is a necessity. It should do that because when one does not have assertiveness, the lack destroys critical thinking, team members’ creativity, and effective patient care. Radiographers, supervisors and team leaders should always ensure they effectively communicate with their teams to ensure patient satisfaction. An interprofessional team requires evaluation of their assessment in case of expected or unexpected events occur. Doing so promotes effective response to prevent complacency. A successful interprofessional team handles complacency and assertiveness by providing equal opportunities for everyone without discrimination. They also provide strategies to enhance support to members so that they deliver quality care to patients. There must be effective communication between team members in a team to prevent cases of lack of assertiveness and complacency. Communication allows the appreciation of every team member as they present their ideas. In addition to this, communication in a team provides room for positive patient outcomes. As team members give their views assertively, people in the team discuss, come up with the best solution possible, and eliminate any possible errors.

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