In nursing, system thinking is a process of awareness about clinical boundaries, authority, hierarchy of the medical field, and the awareness of interdependencies- meaning nurses displaying strong leadership skills can implement change for the better of the unit/hospital. It is important for nurses implementing system thinking skills to understand the importance of interrelationships among nurses and other healthcare professionals (Statler& Mota, 2018). It is imperative that nurses, doctors, therapists, etc work together to improve the patient’s outcome and make treatments run smoothly. Nurse leaders and educators can use their experience and skills in system thinking to help others understand the steps they can take and roles they play in reaching a common goal within their organization (Statler & Mota, 2018). A nurse can inspire others to take action by being role models in promoting interprofessional teamwork, leading change, and creating an environment of mutual respect and team collaboration (Statler & Mota, 2018).
IPEC was created to develop core competencies and to build upon each profession’s disciplinary competencies. The intention was to get students of different health professions engaged in other professions learning to better integrate population health approaches across different professions, leading to better collaborative work. Their goal is to teach a variety of healthcare disciplines to students to help aid in better interprofessional relationships (McKearney, n.d.). Because of IPEC, nurses and nurse leaders know their defined role in a patient’s care and can incorporate and interact with other professions to reach the common goal- a healthy patient outcome. By having strong interdisciplinary communication, patients can feel they are receiving proper care with a team that works together, rather than against each other, which I have witnessed many times. Doctors of other specialties will go against one of another specialty or talk negatively about the plan of care created by the other team. This does not give a patient faith in the care they will receive. Nurses and nurse leaders can help bridge this gap by accurately relaying information to each specialist care team involved. As a patient’s care team, each individual has their own specialized skill set, therefore working together leads to a higher functioning team. Another way nurse leaders can implement system thinking, is by encouraging others to create a fair, just environment. It is important that we take responsibility for our actions, own our mistakes, reporting near misses, reporting system breakdowns, such as communication issues, and lack of supplies essential for patient care (Statler & Mota, 2018). Nurse leaders and educators can use their skills to teach others how to create individualized care plans and get the patient involved in their care. This leads to more compliant patients with a better understanding of their health issues.
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References
Stalter, A. M., & Mota, A. (2018). Using systems thinking to envision quality and safety in healthcare. Nursing management, 49(2), 32-39. https://journals.lww.com/nursingmanagement/fulltext/2018/02000/using_systems_thinking_to_envision_quality_and.7.aspx
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