Group Observation

Purpose:The patient safety group is a team of hospital staff who are directly connected to the personal care of patients. The team comprises of the representatives of each of these groups, including nursing staff, doctors, clinical officers, lab technicians, pharmacists, and the hospital chief of medicine. The group meets every first Wednesday of the month. I joined them for their monthly meeting recently, to observe how they conduct their meetings. During these meetings, the group discusses issues relating to patient care, things that can be done to improve the function, among other things. The group was recently formed and still has a lot of time dedicated in its monthly meetings to operations.

Leader Roles:The leader of the group, the chief of medicine facilitates discussion, initiates agenda and helps the group reach a decision on relevant issues. He additionally provides important information that helps members make informed decisions. He is the main determinant on how well discussions go, and progress made at the end of each meeting.

Decision Making Methods:After an agenda has been introduced, the facilitator will then invite views on the subject. The agenda in introduced by information on why it is important, some statistics to back this up where he feels it is necessary, and possibly some printed information may be handed out. In my opinion, this was a good way of handling the meeting, since each member then has enough information to debate the issue constructively. The facilitator helps in keeping time, and in helping members understand what a particular speaker is saying. This can be done by paraphrasing what he thinks they want to say, and at the end of this, asking whether there is consensus. Alternatively, he will propose a solution, and invite others members to air their support or dissent to this. This means that decisions reached here have the blessings of every member, and by extension, the groups they represent in the meeting.

Group Member roles:The group members have a general role to raise issues that are specific to their area of expertise. This helps in reaching compromise and informed decisions. The laboratory staff representative usually takes minutes. The nursing staff representative reports on information that concerns the group – any complaints on patient safety, cases of negligence and other such relevant data.

Participation:Participation is encouraged by the actions of the facilitator. He is very able in the way he operates the meetings. He in a way makes all members sure that whatever they say will help the group make progress, and that their opinions are valued. This makes them very enthusiastic to air their views, and honestly examine other suggestions offered at the meeting. The open communication allowed by the facilitator is very important in this. As a result, every decision reached is clear to all, and everyone is obliged to support it since it was made openly.

Critical Care Nurses Association Meetings

Purpose:The purpose of this is to improve the nursing care given to critical care patients, and also give each other moral support in their execution of this trying task. Meetings are held fortnightly, onFriday evenings. These meetings exchange ideas, give support, and announce any major changes in their hospital‘s approach towards critical care patients as a function.

Leader Roles:The leader role rotates among group members. The group leader at each session moves the conversation forward, inviting people to say what they feel about things, how they can make their work better and improve the services they give, as well as what they feel the hospital and state government should do to improve healthcare and the plight of the healthcare sector in general.

Decision-making Methods

Any decisions made in the group meetings, though not binding on any other institution or group, are passed on as suggestions to the relevant authorities where relevant. Decisions are reached in an open way, with members airing their views, supporting each other views or disagreeing. Not all conversations at the meeting are expected to result in a definite decision, but where it happens, the decision is reached with as much consensus as possible to strengthen the group’s position.

Group Member Roles

Group members have a rotating role of being group leader at each, meeting. A different member volunteers to note down any important points. All members have a role to be as participative as possible to make the meeting productive.

Similarities and Differences.

Both groups carry on their business in an open and friendly atmosphere with each member being able to air their views freely. The facilitator plays a central role in moving agenda forward, as do other members in contributing as much as possible. This is an important factor in helping decisions be made by a collective group.

While the critical care group is mainly per to peer support and suggestions group, the patients’ safety team has power to effect decisions reached. This may inform the enthusiasm that guides members of each team as they discuss issues. The leadership role is fixed in the patients’ safety group, bringing more stability to the group, Participation, Similarities and Differences