The article “Sisterhood of the Tent” highlights the importance of teamwork among nursing professionals to ensure safety and efficiency in the provision of healthcare. Collaboration between the five nurses highlights the enhancement in nursing outcomes due to effective communication, improved knowledge among colleagues, sharing of goals and vision, and job satisfaction. Teamwork ensures that nurses provide holistic care, which includes the administration of medication and provision of information to patients and their families on health status, self-care practices, and follow-up procedures. Emotional support for patients and colleagues dispels fear, confusion, and self-centrism, which might interfere with the objectives of healthcare. The article highlights the importance of adopting policies and measures to reverse the silo effect, which has been a major barrier to the treatment of patients with conditions such as chronic pain and mental illness.
The silo effect undermines coordination between nursing professionals and patients, which prevents individuals from receiving proper care and eventually increases the cost of health care systems due to the incomplete address of healthcare issues. For example, the adoption of a system constituting crisis nurses, caseworkers, and mental health professionals is critical in providing appropriate care for a patient with mental health problems. The collaboration will ensure the proper pooling of resources to minimize the possibility of the return of the patient due to the reoccurrence of a previously treated problem. A major factor in the prevalence of information silos within the healthcare system is the use of outdated operating systems and technologies, which hamper the gathering of data and connection between healthcare providers. Effective flow of information in healthcare settings is critical to the provision of appropriate care because healthcare professionals can easily access patients’ records, clinical evaluations, and other crucial information. The training of healthcare providers, which occurs in isolation from other professionals, has played a key role in introducing the limitations on the ability of healthcare professionals to work in collaboration with other professionals.
When healthcare providers and patients share the same goal regarding the achievement of the highest level of health and wellness, challenges become easy to tackle. The administration of treatment and restoration of health thrives based on friendship, respect, and equal treatment within healthcare settings, which require individuals to learn to view situations from both the perspective of colleagues and patients (Falter & Kobs, 2004). The article highlights the fact that effective collaboration within the healthcare setting demands all the involved parties to cease working within the boundaries of their assignments. Healthcare providers must focus on the goals, situations, and occurrences that make all the parties the same. The implementation of the philosophy of teamwork requires that the patient be the focal point in key healthcare decisions. The patient is comparable to the captain of the excursion team because he played a key role in influencing the formation and preservation of the team. The operations of the healthcare system revolve around the patient and disregarding the patient threatens teamwork in healthcare settings. The patient needs to feel that he or she is an important and equal party in the process of the restoration of health to collaborate with healthcare professionals. The realization of healthcare goals demands that all parties acknowledge the fact that they are responsible for each other. Individuals should extend their responsibilities beyond the performance of assigned tasks to the promotion of teamwork within the healthcare environment.
Reference
Falter, B., & Kobs, A. (2004). Sisterhood of the Tent. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 28(1), 26-28.