Roles of Health Professionals

1.      What did I expect to learn about this topic before beginning the unit?

I know the interdisciplinary team includes many different specialties and that each member plays a special/important role in the outcome of the patient. I wanted to learn more about how I can involve other members of the team and how I can utilize those other members to provide more complete care to my patients.

2.      What I actually learned:

I learned/realized many different things from working on this unit this week. I was reminded of the importance of team work in healthcare and the positive impact it has on the overall functioning and quality of the hospital, the patient’s outcome, and the happiness of the employees. Working as a team can be difficult at times but this past week I have really been reminded how important it is and to realize that we as healthcare workers are in this together. We all have a common goal at the hospital no matter what department/specialty you work in: we all come to work each day to serve others and want our patients to have the best outcome possible. In order for teams to be successful we have to have that open communication, respect, and collaboration. With my current job on the Neuro/Rehab unit, I work with PT, OT, and speech on a daily basis. My medication administration schedule is partly dictated by the patient’s therapy schedule. Therapy is SO important for these patients and I try my very best to never interrupt them to give medications. On a weekly basis each member of the team meets to discuss each patient for 5-10 minutes and the progression/digression that is happening. Every member is there: MD, nurse, PT, OT, speech, SW, dietary…care notes are made and e-mails are sent out to the nurses who primarily care for those patients. I feel like this is an exceptional example of team work on our unit and how beneficial it is to do this so that every member of the team is updated on the patient’s status and we all understand where the patient needs help.

I have also learned this week the many different ways I can involve other members of the interdisciplinary team with diabetic education specifically. It’s also important to make sure the family understands what is being said/does a return demonstration of insulin administration or just explain the information given in their own words. Diabetic counselors/educators can be so helpful to us as nurses. They can take the time to educate our patients. Home health nurses are also good resources to use so we get a more complete picture of what home/daily life is like for these families. This is especially important with diabetes because daily lifestyle (what we eat/exercise) can impact a person’s diabetic management and overall health.

3.      My feelings/experiences from the individual and team activities:

The discussion this week was really good. I think we had a lot of different perspectives and input as a team to decide how we were going to approach the situation with our diabetic 11 year old with different family dynamics and need for interpretation services. Although each of us was functioning as the nurse, I felt like we represented an interdisciplinary team and we discussed how we wanted to approach this patient. We went back and forth about what needs this patient may have and came to a consensus. This is exactly how the team really works! J

The case study and critical thinking assignment required more complex thinking and I needed to find a solution to a dilemma that is something that will happen in my nursing career. With research, I have had times that I have not been able to find proper articles for EBP and I feel like I come to a dead end. I was able to reflect on ways to prevent this from happening again and I explored resources I have for help.

4.      How I will utilize the information learned in my nursing practice:

I want to make sure I am actively participating in my team duty and being collaborative and respectful to the other team members. I can remember these scenarios and examples of how I can utilize other team members to help the patient (interpretation services, dietary, diabetic counselors/educators, home health nurses).

5.      My personal feelings about the material covered:

I felt that the material this week was very valuable and a good reminder of how important it is for us as nurses to recognize all the team members involved in each of our patient’s care and that a successful team is only successful if we are actively participating and doing our part.