VI. Interprofessional Communication & Collaboration for Improving Patient Health Outcome
Communicating effectively with all health care disciplines is imperative for a conducive, civil work environment and to the safety of patients. My experiences in working in interdisciplinary teams were very different between my endocrine practice and operating room practice. The endocrine team that I had worked for consisted of two endocrinologist, nurse practitioner, dietician, office manager and two administrative assistant and myself (RN). The operating room team that I currently work in, can range anywhere from one to two primary surgeons, anesthesiologist or nurse anesthetist, scrub nurse or tech, resident, physician assistant and myself (circulating …show more content…
One patient in particular was a 35 year old male patient that was referred to us from his optometrist. The optometrist insisted that the patient needed to see an endocrinologist. In the referral, it was stated that the patient appeared to have diabetic retinopathy that has progressively gotten worse. The patient was first told this at his very first visit and was told then to see an endocrine specialist. Now that it was three months later, and with not seeing a specialist as directed the patient’s vision had progressively gotten worse; the patient’s initiative kicked in after the optometrist states that he could lose his sight in one of his eyes. The patient arrived to our office very anxious and worried for his sight. I first completed some baseline values for the endocrinologist to review. After seeing the endocrinologist, the patient was then sent to me for patient teaching on how to use a glucometer. First and foremost, I established a rapport with the patient in order to be successful in completing any future teaching and exams. Then I assessed his readiness, which he appeared to be very motivated to return to a healthier status for the sake of his sight. After a small tutorial of how a glucometer works, I encourage him to complete a return demonstration to assess his understanding of what I taught him. …show more content…
Caring for patients is not the only attribute that a nurse holds but the clinical science knowledge, initiative in leadership roles, strong use of evidence based practice and understanding of policies and finance and how they all play a role in maintaining the health of a population. As a healthcare professional, I take the role of patient advocacy very seriously. Often time in the operating room, some of the patients that are often take advantage of are those what are from different cultural backgrounds such as a Muslim women who prefer to only have female staff in the room, Jehovah witness patients who do not wish to receive blood products, or patients who primary language is not English. For example, insisting that the doctor and any other healthcare staff speak to an authorized translator when discussing the surgical and anesthesia consent is a practice that I ensure is followed through. Oftentimes family members may not understand medical terminology and thus cannot accurately translate them for optimal patient understanding of procedure and other surgical practices. As mentioned in the Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice under essential eight, honesty and acting ethically are two important elements of
Communicating effectively with all health care disciplines is imperative for a conducive, civil work environment and to the safety of patients. My experiences in working in interdisciplinary teams were very different between my endocrine practice and operating room practice. The endocrine team that I had worked for consisted of two endocrinologist, nurse practitioner, dietician, office manager and two administrative assistant and myself (RN). The operating room team that I currently work in, can range anywhere from one to two primary surgeons, anesthesiologist or nurse anesthetist, scrub nurse or tech, resident, physician assistant and myself (circulating …show more content…
One patient in particular was a 35 year old male patient that was referred to us from his optometrist. The optometrist insisted that the patient needed to see an endocrinologist. In the referral, it was stated that the patient appeared to have diabetic retinopathy that has progressively gotten worse. The patient was first told this at his very first visit and was told then to see an endocrine specialist. Now that it was three months later, and with not seeing a specialist as directed the patient’s vision had progressively gotten worse; the patient’s initiative kicked in after the optometrist states that he could lose his sight in one of his eyes. The patient arrived to our office very anxious and worried for his sight. I first completed some baseline values for the endocrinologist to review. After seeing the endocrinologist, the patient was then sent to me for patient teaching on how to use a glucometer. First and foremost, I established a rapport with the patient in order to be successful in completing any future teaching and exams. Then I assessed his readiness, which he appeared to be very motivated to return to a healthier status for the sake of his sight. After a small tutorial of how a glucometer works, I encourage him to complete a return demonstration to assess his understanding of what I taught him. …show more content…
Caring for patients is not the only attribute that a nurse holds but the clinical science knowledge, initiative in leadership roles, strong use of evidence based practice and understanding of policies and finance and how they all play a role in maintaining the health of a population. As a healthcare professional, I take the role of patient advocacy very seriously. Often time in the operating room, some of the patients that are often take advantage of are those what are from different cultural backgrounds such as a Muslim women who prefer to only have female staff in the room, Jehovah witness patients who do not wish to receive blood products, or patients who primary language is not English. For example, insisting that the doctor and any other healthcare staff speak to an authorized translator when discussing the surgical and anesthesia consent is a practice that I ensure is followed through. Oftentimes family members may not understand medical terminology and thus cannot accurately translate them for optimal patient understanding of procedure and other surgical practices. As mentioned in the Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice under essential eight, honesty and acting ethically are two important elements of