Improving Team Collaboration in Patient Transfer Processes by Co-Workers’ Perceptions and Suggestions

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose was twofold: first to describe how co-workers within a team perceived team collaboration in patient transfers from an intensive care unit (ICU) to general wards and, second, to describe co-workers’ suggestions for an improved future state of team collaboration.

Methodology/Approach: Focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted at two medium-sized hospitals located in Sweden. Participants were multidisciplinary and from both ICUs and general wards. Data were analysed using qualitative deductive content analysis.

Findings: An expressed need for improving team collaboration was a defined and well-designed ICU transitional care process with a holistic view of how to create quality of care, and a standardised process for continuous improvements. This should involve co-workers from different professions and hospital units, as well as patients and relatives. Other views raised by the co-workers were clearer definitions of roles, responsibilities and deeper insights on how team members depend on each other’s work efforts to succeed.

Research Limitation/Implication: This study was conducted at two hospitals, hence no generalizable conclusions can be made.

Originality/Value of paper: Co-workers collaborating in a ICU transitional care process can have important insights in how to improve team collaboration. This can be of great importance in increasing quality of care where multiprofessional teams from different organisational cultures are collaborating.