EFFECTIVE TEAM COMMUNICATION: THE ANTIDOTE FOR BURNOUT

All fired up and burnt out – that about sums up how many nursing professionals, medical technicians, and healthcare supervisors feel these days delivering patient care.

With stress levels at an all-time high in healthcare settings, hospital administrators are scrambling to find the best solutions and antidotes to eliminate the stress that leads to burnout. Determined to implement the best systems, provide the best benefits, these well-meaning administrators overlook one of the key factors contributing to rising stress levels- broken communication systems and failed communication strategies.

Words matter. And when you are talking about communication within nursing units or patient care teams, words, or the lack of them, are one of the biggest reasons cited for burnout and stress.

Poor communication contributes to low morale and paves the way for healthcare professionals to check out or disengage. Low morale decreases the pulse on your patient satisfaction initiatives as patients pick up on the attitudes, lack of attention, decreased motivation and commitment, demonstrated by their care team.

Often it even erodes the trust of the patient’s family as they begin to worry about the care their loved one is receiving.

Communication breaks down, trust erodes, and a negative work environment ensues in a cascading domino effect.

Its devastating effects can be seen in lower quality of patient care and negative patient outcomes, too.

What’s the best way to safeguard against this system breakdown? Effective team communication.

Once thought of as a leadership soft skill, effective communication has become a superpower for healthcare leaders. With so much emphasis placed on innovative technology communication systems, hospitals and physician practices often lose sight of the effectiveness of clear, comprehensive communication delivered in conversation.

Good ‘old fashioned conversation delivered in an unhurried manner, - now that’s innovative!

Active listening is twice as effective as speech delivery when it comes to elevating the effectiveness of your team communication.

When your nursing staff and other professional healthcare team members believe they have a voice and are heard, they have lower levels of stress and are less likely to have stress that leads to burnout.

If you want to have more effective team communication, talk:

T – Tell them they matter

A – Ask them what concerns them most and what is getting in the way of doing an effective job

L – Listen twice as much as you talk

K – Know your team.

Know what is challenging them and leverage the understanding that results when you engage in TALK.