Answer 3 for NURS FPX 4010 Assessment 3 Interdisciplinary Plan Proposal

The triage nurse in the emergency department faces difficulties when evaluating patients with urgent medical needs. The problems stem from the excessive number of patients in the emergency department, resulting in prolonged waiting times. This delay leads to higher mortality, morbidity, and lower levels of patient satisfaction (Joseph, 2020). This interdisciplinary plan proposal aims to address the inefficiency of the triage department, which has resulted in a backlog of patients in the ED department. The goal is to improve patients’ outcomes and waiting times by addressing issues such as nurse shortages, understaffing, and burnout.

Objective

Efficient allocation of resources in the emergency department may enhance the quality of service and patient flow by minimizing waiting times and improving patient care. To achieve these objectives, the emergency department should use the queueing theory to address the problem of inefficiency in the triage department, which has resulted in a backlog of patients in the ED department. Bed management, quick-track, dynamic resource allocation, patient prioritization and grouping, and triage techniques will all be part of these strategies (Bijani & Khaleghi, 2019). This strategy will enable the emergency department to prioritize the reduction of waiting times and alleviate congestion, enhancing patient care and outcomes. The success of this EBP intervention will be assessed by observing the patient satisfaction rates and patient-provider ratio in the emergency department at any moment.

Questions and Predictions

How would the proposed queuing theory model contribute to reducing patient waiting time? Using a first-come, first-serve (FCFS) methodology, the model will initially effectively minimize the duration of waiting periods by 50%. However, this percentage will improve upon all triage nurses’ complete adoption of the proposed model (Elalouf & Wachtel, 2021).
How will the model tackle the issue of nurse understaffing? The concept will integrate parallel services by increasing the number of nurses in the emergency room (Elalouf & Wachtel, 2021).
How would the model mitigate nurse burnout? The approach will implement the queuing theory principles by estimating the patient arrival and nurse service rates. The short waiting time is directly proportional to the higher number of staff members (Joseph, 2020).
What is the estimated duration for the model to resolve the overcrowding issue? The proposed methodology is expected to take six months to resolve the issue at hand effectively (Elalouf & Wachtel, 2021). Evaluating the result will include assessing the disparities between empirical observation and the queuing model.

Change Theories and Leadership Strategies

The healthcare organization may use Lewin’s change theory to effectively tackle inefficiencies in the triage department, hence resolving the issue of patient backlogs in the ED department. The organization might adopt new changes during unfreezing by questioning established patterns and highlighting issues. The refreezing step entails stabilizing the recent modification and actively fighting any subsequent alterations in the ER. Lewin’s theory advocates for interprofessional cooperation and improving healthcare quality (Joseph, 2020). The change model method efficiently assesses interventions at every stage of change implementation. Queuing theory may be used to reduce waiting times and analyze the influence of nurse staffing on waiting times. Implementing this strategy in the emergency department, guided by Lewin’s change theory, may reduce patient waiting times and alleviate congestion, leading to enhanced patient care and improved results.

The Plan-do-study-act leadership strategy is an effective method that encourages cooperation across different disciplines to develop ideas through change theory (Bijani & Khaleghi, 2019). It assists facility administrators and departmental heads in attaining transformational leadership by developing a strategic plan, providing a framework for assessing the situation before and after interventions, performing a study to execute the intervention, and collecting vital information. The act phase examines facts gathered from preceding phases and formulating a post-intervention action plan to address the problem.

Team Collaboration Strategy

The plan proposal outlines healthcare project managers’ different roles and responsibilities. The experts will work together to gather perspectives on the queuing theory in its initial phases. The chief nursing officer will develop strategies to utilize the model effectively. The initial manager will oversee the overall implementation of the theory and the utilization of resources, making any necessary adjustments as needed within the first quarter (Bijani & Khaleghi, 2019). The second manager will provide a comprehensive report during the final quarter of the project, focusing on key findings and evaluating the project’s final phase. Professionals must cultivate and maintain strong communication skills to efficiently delegate their responsibilities.

In this particular situation, communication would be the most suitable method for collaboration. Efficient communication is crucial for promoting interdisciplinary collaboration and achieving organizational success. Health professionals should embrace this approach when assessing the process and decision-making. It is crucial to acknowledge the significance of resolving misunderstandings in the initial phases of the proposal, as they may arise from varying perspectives among colleagues (Bijani & Khaleghi, 2019). Effective communication fosters a clear understanding of the professionals’ roles. Project managers will adhere strictly to their roles by the facility’s regulations, legislation, and regulatory standards. Thus, the professionals will foster trust and honesty among each other as they work together to achieve the plan’s objectives.

Required Organizational Resources

The implementation process will consider various options, including the shared nurse option, which necessitates the presence of available triage nurses. The specialized nurse option will involve selecting nurses based on their specific areas of expertise. The nurse rotation system will randomly assign nurses to serve patients from both groups to distribute the workload evenly (Joseph & White, 2020). The organization will be able to utilize the available nurse options without incurring any costs for staffing. The process will use the current facilities and the regular patients who register daily. Nevertheless, the patients will be present in both the risk and general populations. As a result, the organization will not experience any expenses when accessing.

The process will have minimal costs, similar to regular working hours. The staff will work during their regular hours to help identify key factors contributing to burnout, nurse understaffing, and shortages. Furthermore, the facility will use the current resources, resulting in a daily cost of approximately $2,000 (Joseph & White, 2020). The facility should consider undertaking this process to identify challenges and implement necessary changes. Nevertheless, the ongoing issue of overcrowding will substantially impact its functionality. For example, the organization may risk shutting down the ED unit and incurring substantial expenses for its revival, including recruitment and reconstruction. Hence, conducting a thorough analysis of the underlying cause is imperative to develop optimal solutions.

Conclusion

The proposal aims to improve patient care in the emergency department by implementing queueing theory, bed management, quick-track, dynamic resource allocation, patient prioritization, and triage techniques. The methodology will take six months to resolve. Lewin’s change theory and the Plan-do-study-act leadership strategy will be used to address inefficiencies. A team collaboration strategy will be proposed, involving healthcare project managers to gather perspectives on the queuing theory. The process will consider options like shared nurse, specialized nurse, and nurse rotation systems to distribute workload evenly. However, overcrowding in the emergency department could lead to costly renovations and closures.

References

Bijani, M., & Khaleghi, A. A. (2019). Challenges and barriers affecting triage quality in emergency Departments: a Qualitative study. Galen Medical Journal, 8. https://doi.org/10.31661/gmj.