Professional Autonomy In Healthcare: A Case Study

Professional autonomy is another driving force within the health care industry. All team members within health care are trusted on their professional knowledge to make decisions on the behalf of the patient’s best interests. The case manager who came and talked with our class discussed how she incorporates professional autonomy in her job. She explained that she collaborates with many other professionals within health care to discuss the plan of care for a patient. This includes gathering insurance information, estimating hospital stay, and ongoing care once the patient is discharged. The case manager is looked to a lot within a hospital for information that nurses and other professions may not have the answers to. Effective communication …show more content…
This allows the nurse to communicate the most relevant information that is needed to care for this patient. Utilizing effective communication cannot only aid in patient hand off, but also avoiding conflict. Communication is also important between the nurse, patient, and their families. Patient centered care revolves around communication between the patient and their health care team. Without proper communication, the patient would lose their sense of control of their situation. Allowing the patient’s and their families to communicate their concerns and wishes with their health care team can help ease stress and anxiety, and allowing them to be more comfortable. An example of communication and collaboration I witnessed amongst a health care team was in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). The health care team consisted of many different interdisiplinaries such as nurses, physicians, physical therapy, speech therapy, respiratory therapy, social worker, case manager, and many others. The team would walk to each patient’s room, as the nurse would give them report in SBAR about the patient. Many of the families were there also listening during rounds. Once the report was given, the team would talk amongst each