Interview and Interdisciplinary Issue Identification

I interviewed a nurse working in the medical ward unit. He performs various roles and responsibilities. Firstly, he educates patients and their families about their medical conditions. Secondly, he monitors patients, takes their histories, and maintains accurate documentation. Thirdly, he provides patient-centered services such as safe medication administration. The nurse is satisfied with his role due to the optimized ratio of nurses to patients. However, he reports that the medical ward has recorded an increase in the incidence of catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) over the past four months. According to the nurse, the increase in the cases of CAUTI is attributed to inadequate interdisciplinary collaboration.

Interdisciplinary collaboration in the medical unit is impeded by various factors. The healthcare facility lacks policies and procedures that advocate for interdisciplinary collaboration. Consequently, nurses and other members of the interdisciplinary team work independently. This culture has affected care coordination at the healthcare facility. Furthermore, the nurse reported that departments at the healthcare facility lacked elaborate goals and objectives. As such, interdisciplinary team members do not collaborate to achieve a common goal. Further probing revealed that the healthcare facility doesn’t conduct regular staff training on the relevance of interdisciplinary collaboration.

I embraced various strategies to gather detailed information from the interviewee. Firstly, I planned adequately by formulating relevant structured questions to guide the interview. Secondly, I created rapport with the interviewee via different techniques, such as active listening and embracing empathy. I embraced proper turn-taking and utilized non-verbal communication cues to achieve active listening. These techniques enabled me to gather comprehensive details from the nurse.

Issue Identification

Catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) is an issue of concern. Bacteria and fungi have been implicated as the etiological agents for CAUTI. Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida albicans are examples of causative organisms (Mong et al., 2022). Findings demonstrate that CAUTI has a prevalence of approximately 10 to 30 percent among patients who are catheterized for two to four days (Mong et al., 2022). Furthermore, it has a more than 90 percent prevalence among patients who are catheterized for more than 4 days (Mong et al., 2022). Risk factors that predispose an individual to CAUTI include diabetes mellitus, irrational use of antibiotics, and prolonged catheterization (Wanat et al., 2020). Additionally, nosocomial infection is more prevalent in females and immunocompromised individuals (Mong et al., 2022). Interdisciplinary collaboration is key in the management of CAUTI. An interdisciplinary approach is relevant in the prevention and management of CAUTI. Subsequently, nurses should collaborate with physicians, pharmacists, and laboratory technicians. Physicians and pharmacists should promote the rational use of systemic antimicrobial medications to reduce the risk of CAUTI. Nurses should adopt aseptic catheter insertion techniques (Schiessler et al., 2019). Laboratory technicians should perform culturing and provide timely, accurate findings. Interdisciplinary collaboration will improve the quality of patient care and reduce cases of CAUTI.

Change Theories That Could Lead to an Interdisciplinary Solution

Havelock’s theory of change will facilitate an interdisciplinary approach to problem-solving. This theory is accomplished in sequential steps. The first step entails relationship building (Saleem et al., 2019). The second step entails problem diagnosis (Saleem et al., 2019). The third step entails conducting research. The fourth step allows the researchers to select a solution. The fifth step entails accepting the solution (Saleem et al., 2019). The last step entails stabilizing and implementing the change. Havelock’s theory will enable the interdisciplinary team to develop a rapport and acknowledge the existence of the problem (CAUTI). Furthermore, the theory will trigger research and promote the adoption of evidence-based practices in managing and preventing CAUTI. Havelock’s theory will ensure that the interdisciplinary team works in harmony to implement evidence-based practices. This source is credible because it fulfills the CRAAP (“currency, relevance, accuracy, authority, and purpose”) criteria (Esparrago-Kalidas, 2021).

Leadership Strategies That Could Lead to an Interdisciplinary Solution

Various leadership strategies should be embraced to promote interdisciplinary collaboration.