Week 5: Roles of Health Professionals

1) I expected to learn about the different roles of health care professionals.

2) I actually learned about working together as an interdisciplinary team to provide quality care. Chapter 4 in our text discusses different approaches to improve outcomes produced by teams by examining how the team functions together or the issues preventing its functioning (Sollecito & Johnson, 2013). First, quality problems are not always visible to senior management leaders, but can be seen frequently by staff nurses or others and the problems end up impacting everyone at all levels. Persons at the lowest level of health care often acquire considerable expertise and have great ideas for fixing problems—so they are a valuable member of a team and need to be listened to. For example, receptionists in an Emergency Department can more easily see why wait times are increased, versus the manager in his office. Sollecito and Johnson (2013) stated that “a substantial proportion of health care quality problems reside in communication structure problems in the organization” (p. 148). By focusing efforts on cohesiveness in communication, problems can be solved quicker and more efficiently. Using a centralized structure where information passes from the team leader down to team members is effective. In a very complex environment, using an all-channel open communication approach is better. This way teams can network and communicate with other units/teams (p. 149). Team characteristics such as size, relationships, status, psychological safety (team members perceive it is okay to take risks among the team for process improvement), and team norms all impact how a team functions.

            Teams are people who work together towards specific goals. They use multiple interconnected processes and produce performance outcomes. Chapter 4 also states that teams need to be able to adapt to changing circumstances and continue with quality improvement. Health care is a dynamic environment and needs the building blocks of teams to ensure its proper function. 

3) I enjoyed the discussion activity about the 11-year old patient with Juvenile Diabetes that continued to be readmitted to the hospital for non-compliance. After assessing the patient’s situation in more detail, our team was able to come to a consensus that the grandmother needed greater education on diabetes, blood sugar control, cooking meals that conform to a consistent carbohydrate diet, and ensuring the patient had proper insulin administration in relation to his blood sugars. Ensuring this is all properly communicated to her via a translator was the most appropriate plan of action. The interdisciplinary team would work most effectively together if the patient, parents, and grandparents were all educated together, and then if the school nurse was also aware of the patients’ diabetic care plan. This way, at home, at school, and then with his check-ups, all care team members would be aware of his diagnosis, dietary plan, and insulin needs.  

This experience taught me to make sure I am looking at all possibilities for situations and then finding solutions for them. I also realized the importance of an interdisciplinary care team. If everyone is properly communicating to one another, greater outcomes will be established for the patient and no gaps of knowledge will exist.

4) I plan to utilize this information in my nursing practice by working as a team and ensure I properly communicate information regarding patients to those involved in their care (i.e. nurse to nurse report, shift report to charge nurse, at patient discharge to a facility, if other team members such as physical therapy come to work with the patient I will inform them of their situation for patient safety).

5) I have always loved healthcare because greater things are accomplished for patients when working together as a team. There are definite team dynamics where some persons seem easier to work with. Others you may feel like you automatically understand their unspoken intentions and will just start to work side-by-side to best help the patient. Overall, communication amongst all disciplines will help everyone be on the same page. Each professional does have their specific role, but when working together, care is optimized for the patient. 

Reference

Sollecito, W. A., & Johnson, J. K. (2013). Mclaughlin and Kaluzny's continuous quality improvement in health care. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.