LAHORE: An inter-professional team building workshop was organised by the Forman Christian College University (FCCU) and Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department (P&SHD), here at the University of Health Sciences (UHS) on Thursday, for healthcare professionals of Basic Health Units (BHU) including doctors, nurses and Lady Health Workers (LHWs).
There were three sessions in the workshop namely, Patient Care Plan, Team Building & Collaboration, and Conflict Management.
The Session on Patient Care Plan was facilitated by Punjab University, Institute of Social and Cultural Studies director, Prof Dr Rubeena Zakir and former WHO Surveillance Consultant Dr Bushra Asif Ali. They emphasised that care plans are vital components in treating patients. Much like a roadmap is used by travellers to reach destination, care plans provide a path for the interdisciplinary care team to follow in the patient’s journey to wellness, they said.
The facilitators of the session maintained that as a vital part of every patient’s health record, a care plan is what’s used to identify, coordinate, and execute a solution to the patient’s condition/diagnosis. A care plan is meant to be comprehensive, and it’s also a way to provide proof to the patient and their providers that evidence-based care was provided. This helps to ensure the delivery of higher-quality care across all medical specialties.
FCCU Sociology Department’s Chairperson, Associate Prof Dr Sara Rizvi Jafree and Kinnaird College’s Humanities and Social Sciences Dean, Prof Dr Masha Asad Khan, facilitated the session on team building and collaboration. They emphasised teamwork, communication, and shared responsibilities, with the aim to enhance the synergy among healthcare professionals in BHUs, promoting a collaborative approach to patient care.
Team building and communication building activities were also delivered to support empathy skills, emotional skills, active listening, and nonverbal skills and written communication.
FCCU assistant professors, Dr Anum Muzammil and Professor Khadija Burhan facilitated the session on conflict management. The participants were informed that conflict has a critical effect on the competence, confidence, and morale of healthcare professionals. Consequently, it affects patient care too. To prevent or limit the conflict, emphasis must be focused on proper and impartial implementation of a professional code of conduct, ground rules and discipline. The facilitators stressed that the issue in conflict is not its existence, rather its management. When it is managed poorly, the outcome will be uncomplimentary with counterproductive results and if managed properly, it encourages competition, recognizes legitimate differences and becomes a powerful source of motivation.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023