Related Experiment Videos
Coordination as a critical element of managed care
C A Allred1, P H Arford, Y Michel
1Graduate Program, College of Nursing, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, USA.
The Journal of Nursing Administration
|December 1, 1995
Summary
Staff nurses utilize consistent coordination mechanisms across varying practice environments. This may lead to communication gaps, service inefficiencies, and reduced patient care efficiency.
Area of Science:
- Nursing
- Healthcare Management
- Health Services Research
Background:
- Coordination is a recognized nursing concept, but its impact on cost-effective patient care outcomes remains under-explored.
- Understanding how nurses coordinate care is crucial for optimizing healthcare delivery and resource utilization.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the patient care coordination mechanisms employed by staff nurses.
- To investigate whether these mechanisms differ across practice environments with varying levels of uncertainty (low, moderate, high).
Main Methods:
- Qualitative examination of coordination mechanisms used by staff nurses.
- Analysis of care coordination strategies in diverse practice settings.
Main Results:
- Staff nurses employed similar coordination mechanisms irrespective of the practice environment's uncertainty level.
- The findings indicate a potential for communication breakdowns and service inefficiencies.
Conclusions:
- Consistent coordination strategies may be insufficient in complex healthcare settings, potentially hindering efficient patient care.
- There is a need for targeted strategies to enhance interprofessional communication and improve the coordination of patient care services for better efficiency and outcomes.