Safety, Quality, And Leadership

It's important for nurses to be actively involved with an interdisciplinary team because of the increasing complexity and scope of patient problems. As these complexities and problems increase, patient care necessitates the combination of efforts of physicians from different disciplines. Actually, comprehensive patient care in today's healthcare settings incorporates attempts to solve problems that are beyond the scope of expertise and training of a single professional. Therefore, the active involvement of nurses in interdisciplinary teams is vital for the provision of comprehensive and effective patient care that help in dealing with the evolving patient problems

Teamwork and Collaboration Helps the Future of Nursing Between Doctors, Nursing Assistants, and Nurses Vanessa Null Chamberlain College of Nursing NR351: Transitions in Professional Nursing Term March 2017 Teamwork and Collaboration Helps the Future of Nursing Between Doctors, Nursing Assistants, and Nurses Teamwork and collaboration is when the nurse and interdisciplinary team share decision making, open communication, and mutual respect to provide better care for the patient. Nursing relies a lot on the collaboration of different disciplines to ensure that a patient receives great care. A group of people of different professions that are a part of a patient’s problem solving, treatment, and care, is what makes up collaboration in healthcare

It is the duty of the nurse to provide care and meet the needs of all their patients.

While historically these teams were spearheaded by phyiscians, team leaders are now based on team objectives instead of a member’s professional status (Porter-O Grady, 2013). These changes have resulted in professional nurses commonly assuming inpte-rprofessional team leader roles (Porter-O Grady, 2013). As inter-professional team leaders, nurses must have knowledge of group dynamics, team characteristics, and also have the skills necessary to effectively manage teams (Porter-O Grady, 2013). According to Porter-O Grady, “facilitation, coordination, and intergration of care” are inheret to the nursing profession and are essential effective nursing practice (2013, p.__ ). These attributes are equally important when leading inter-professional teams because nurses serve as great mediators between patients, team members, and the healthcare organization (Porter-O Grady,

The collaboration of a nurse with an interdisciplinary team is important because it involves discussing client care and decisions of their care. This is especially important when caring for a patient with multiple problems (ATI Leadership pg.41). The knowledge and skills combined together as a team are of great use in developing an interdisciplinary plan of care for the patient with multiple problems. It should be recognized by the nurse that the collaboration of the team can accomplish more successful with a team rather than alone (ATI pg.41).

Teams working in a hospital or other healthcare setting may consist of several physicians, nurses, medical assistants, referral coordinators, pharmacists, therapists, and students among others. Such large teams can provide comprehensive care for complex and chronic illnesses, but when they fail to work well together, they

Effective collaboration between registered nurses and physicians has been shown to reduce morbidity and mortality rates, cost of care, and medical errors and to improve job satisfaction and retention of nursing staff (Maxson et al., 2011, p. 31). To be an active part of an interdisciplinary team will give the nurse the opportunity to be a part of a group of people that will and can make it better not only for the patient but for the medical system as a whole. The outcomes are positive in every way.

According to Pepau the goal of nursing is to help the patient find their felt problem. The nurse and patient work together therefore they develop relationship between each other’s. These two individuals with common aim have interpersonal relation. Nursing is therapeutic in that it is a healing art, assisting an individual who is sick or in need of health care ( Pepau 1952). Nurse plays several roles in this relationship. As a resource person, nurse gives adequate information that help patient understanding of issues. As a counselor: a nurse helps patient to incorporate the sense of current life change event, and provides advice for change. Nurse plays role of leader by making sure patient undertakes maximum engagement to achieve treatment goals.

A professional nursing practice is predicated on many tenets, which ensure optimal functionality and growth. A successful organization requires the systematic employment of ethical values, as well as structural, organizational and relational leadership. In essence, a nursing practice must fortify its corporate structure, productivity, operational flow, and professional relationships in order to thrive. The purpose of an organizational meeting is to address the foundational elements of a successful practice. Along with delineating guidelines, a meeting should reinforce structure, a unified sense of purpose, and address lingering issues.

Kaakinen et al (2015) discusses the two types of health care teams that will be involved in the patient’s care: multiprofessional and interprofessional. The multiprofessional model is an older model that does not focus on holistic care. Care is fragmented with an autocratic leader, vertical communication, separate goals of the professionals involved, and families are peripheral to the process (Kaakinen et al., 2015). The preferred model is the interprofessional model emphasizing a team approach, holistic care of the patient, horizontal communication, and involvement of the family (Kaakinen et al., 2015). The nurse should keep this collaborative approach in mind when dealing with any patient case, involving all teams associated with the patient for the best outcome.

Team nursing is the essential care model in emergency room care, the nurse and other healthcare providers work as team to provide positive patient outcomes. We use all disciples in the delivery of care, we begin with the department director, this person oversees the department and is responsible for the care twenty fours a day, we move on to the clinical coordinator , this person is the nurse manager for the day to day operations, they are the ones where the delegation of task begins, they work directly with the physician and the other departments to progress the patient flow through the department, this is followed by the direct care nurse, who is responsible for the direct patient care, and delegates the patient needs to the ancillary staff , consisting of the emergency room tech, which draw blood , ekg’s, and direct patient care needs. These staff members are given a section of rooms they are responsible for, the direct care nurse , follows written orders, and assures patient outcomes by directing the care with her team. Team nursing has changed as stated in Finkelman ”the team model has changed to meet changes in

“Nursing encompasses autonomous and collaborative care of individuals of all ages, families, groups and communities, sick or well and in all settings. Nursing includes the promotion of health, prevention of illness, and the care of ill, disabled and dying people. Advocacy, promotion of a safe environment, research, participation in shaping health policy and in patient and health systems management, and education are also key nursing roles” (ICN 2010)

As a nurse it is their responsibility to provide total patient care to each and every patient that they are caring for. Part of providing total patient care to these patients lies the responsibility of teaching and education. Through effective teaching and education, patients can be made aware of their diagnosis, administering medications and complying with their regimen, severe side effects to watch for, strict diets, exercise, different treatment options, and whatever else is necessary for the patients’ well-being.

According to the World Health Organization (2016) the role of the nurse is to provide autonomous and collaborate care to individuals, families and communities by promoting health, preventing illness and providing care for the ill, disabled and dying. A nurse assesses patient’s physical, emotional and psychological

When doing this, they become part of the interdisciplinary team, which consists of the nurses and all the other professionals providing care to the patient. It is an “approach in which two or more disciplines collaborate in the learning process with the goal of fostering interprofessional interactions that enhance the practice of each discipline.” (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2014, p. 1) Each healthcare member involved evaluates and develops a specific plan of care related to their field. When they communicate that plan, discuss thoughts and ideas, and continually reassess their plans with each other, a successful interdisciplinary team has been developed. Both teams are important to the patient and play huge roles in nursing.