Dimensions of Interprofessional Practice - Essay Example

? DIMENSIONS OF INTERPROFESSIONAL PRACTICE By Introduction In orderto give a good account of the coordination of work between the various medical officers and other players involved in the upkeep and monitoring of patient’s activities, I chose the Gibbs model because it gives an elaborate path or roadmap towards a good reflective representation (University of Cumbria 1988). The chief reflection in this essay, will be the pegged on the contribution of nurses to a medical team. In addition, this reflective essay will highlight on various shortcomings of health professionals. Hence these shortcomings contribute to the failure of quality deliver by the professionals. As well known, the role of the medical officer is to monitor, inform, mobilize, link, investigate among other responsibilities ( Freeth & Copperman 2009). Description The event involves the treatment of Mrs. Weber who is a 70 year old patient with multiple health disorders. She was admitted into the hospital due to her shin injury after a fall and it required immediate treatment. According to her medical history, she suffered from osteoarthritis and hypotension that became a fundamental cause of her repetitive falls resulting in shin injury and development of fear for mobilization. I called the social worker handling Mrs. Weber’s case and two specialists from the fall clinic, to help in her treatment since they were more conversant with her case in addition to her health care service provider. Feelings The adaptation of new rules governing patients-health officer relationship is a first step to interprofessional collaboration in the healthcare sector (Miers Barrett & Clarke 2005). As would be expected of health care providers, the staff accorded the patient the best treatment and basic rules were observed. The rules stipulate that the nurse is in charge of coordinating the activities between the doctor and the patient, I felt that the rules housed the input of the nurses and support staff in regards to the whole inpatient registration and sign in process. Moreover, the organization had considered the role of junior officers, thus bring onboard a third group of specialist under my scrutiny for this essay. Subsequently, the necessary bond between working colleagues had been cemented to create space for harmony and teamwork in the performance of the daily activities (Gilbert 2005). Proper team work ensured that the nurse in charge consulted the specialists, and the social worker participated in the handling of the patient. I appreciated the contribution of the process due to the immediate care that Mrs. Weber got from the whole team. Evaluation According to my analysis it was evident that the relationship between the various key players, ensured that quality health care was given to Mrs. Weber’s. According to, an interprofessional relationship is a relationship between members of a team who have different professional education, identity and socialization ( McDonald & McCallin 2010). Moreover, in every organization, it is the responsibility of every member of the team to make sure that their contribution is valuable and helpful. Therefore, for interprofessional collaboration to be effective in healthcare organizations, players ought to work in harmony and an interact manner and this was the case in his organization (Meads Ashcroft Barr Scott & Wild 2008). For professionals to work efficiently without conflict, communication and willingness level should be realized. The communication process does not only involve the transfer of messages between people, but involves understanding and decoding of the information to come up with a conclusion. Hence, communication between different players improves the relationship amongst professionals (Scott Lewin Espin & Zwarenstein 2008). In reference to the case, if the communication path was inadequate, information would not have reached the different players consulted on Mrs. Weber’s condition. Consequently, medical history and daily lifestyle of the patient would not have been factored in. Better client handling techniques is also a matter of work ethics. Every employee ought to be enlightened about the expected code of conduct and ethics. Consequently, this governs the through which the client responds to various situations in the work place (Clifton Dale & Bradshaw 2007). Mrs. Weber had the right to be treated and accorder patient- doctor confidentiality a code of conduct that is very important. Moreover, even though the patient was old thus could not state her position it was important for the nurses and the doctors to give the best treatment after listening to different source (Ayers 2007). Analysis It is important to understand the meaning and role of teamwork as a component of interprofessional working. This is so, because many players are expected to contribute their expertise and ideas towards achieving a common goal. Further, it is important to note that teams are formed for several purposes. Informal teams, are formed to oversee the activities of a generally less involving task (Berman & Nies 2004) . The achievement of better results by hospitals, the management should work towards team building. Further, traditional and self-directed teams are the most active forms of team performance because they ensure that every member is aware of the objectives of the organization, and thus they work in harmony towards achieving a common objective (Trodd & Chivers 2011). Conflicts between the nurses and their superiors are the major barriers towards service delivery. It is important to note that nurses are the missing link between any team of healthcare professionals (Freeth & Reeves 2004). One of the key nurses roles can be the leader of the inter- professionals team which to co-ordinate between professional teams, bring the team together and remove the strong division of tasks between professionals so that every team member is involved and can play a part ( Miers & Pollard 2009).In reference to this case, the hospital had laid down the necessary rules to delegate jobs to various staff members in the hospital. In return, the process seemed to work well, with the specialists availing the necessary information. The nurse is usually in a better position to coordinate the activities since she is always in contact with the patient ( G. Dean J. Siegert & J. Tayl 2012). Quality health care calls for collaboration between all player, as such the management of such institutions should be objected toward strong conflict resolving bodies and teamwork encouragement practices ( Iliadi 2010). For example, where employees cannot come into terms with each other, the best remedy is to separate them for some time. Likewise, in some cases they can be given a break to enable them rethink their decisions. On the contrary, with determined and hard working staff the hospital or any organizational setup is guaranteed to have excellent and harmonized results ( Weinstein Whittington & Leiba 2003). Conclusion In conclusion, one factor is duly noted in the analysis done above. For the effective performance of an organization the employees and the management should be in constant contact to ensure immediate feedback and delegation of authority to the best parties (Stuart 2002). Generally, interprofessional practices are complements of codes of conduct in addition to ethical conducts. These two complements play a very important role especially in the health care profession (Ross King & Firth 2005). More so, it is moral for any profession to realize that any employee regardless of their position has a chief role in the success of the institution. Therefore, professional are expected to understand personal weakness of their colleagues and render help rather than criticize and ridicule. Action plan The case at hand has greatly elaborated the need for interprofessional practices in the health care sector. As would be expected the nurse plays a key role in this sector as they are in constant contact with the patients. More so, the specialist must exhibit professionalism by listening to their nurses for the sole purpose of diagnosing their patient with the best medication (Orchard,, Curran & Kabene 2005). On the trainee’s part, they should not be overshadowed by the attending nurses and the professional because their views are equally important (King & Ross 2003). Therefore, events in this case were an exemplary indication of how the interprofessional collaboration can lead to better results. Mrs. Weber’s case was solved amicably. It saw her reunite with her family, and the dangers of polypharmacy were done away with. This obviously meant that her self-esteem would be raised and she would be ready to socialize and relate to other people in the community. This was not only an achievement for the hospital and Mrs. Weber but it gave me a reflection of how interprofessional working leads to good results. It is important to note that shared professional experience and accountability helps professional in the health sector to accord good care for their patients. secondly, since everybody plays a role, they all ensure that they give their best. In conclusion, better results as contributed by the two specialists and the social worker ensured that every aspect of Mrs. Weber’s health was catered for. If done otherwise, the diagnosis given would have been inconclusive or it would have led to negligence that may result to legal action against the hospital or any of the attending professionals. References Freeth D. Copperman, J. 2009, Being Interprofessional. Cambridge: Politic. G. Dean, S., J. Siegert, R. & J. Tayl, W. 2012, Interprofessional Rehabilitation: A Person-Centred Approach: John Wiley & Sons. London. Iliadi P. 2010, Accountability and Collaborative Care: How interprofessional education promotes them. Health Science Journal Vol 4, Issue 3, 129-134. McDonald C. & McCallin A. 2010, Interprofessional collaboration in palliative nursing: what is the patient-family role? International Journal of Palliative Nursing, Vol. 16, Iss. 6, 286-289. Miers M. & Pollard , K. 2009, The role of nurses in interprofessional. nursing management Vol 15 No 9 , 30-35. Weinstein J. Whittington, C, & Leiba, T. 2003, Collaboration in social work practice: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London, United Kingdom. Ayers S. 2007, Cambridge Handbook of Psychology, Health and Medicine: Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. Berman P. & Nies, H. 2004, Integrating Services for Older People: A resource book for managers. In J. Triantafillou , Integrated teams: European health Management Association .Dublin. Clifton M. Dale C. & Bradshaw C. 2007, The Impact and Effectiveness of Inter-Professional Education in Primary Care. Royal Collage of Nursing, 1-27. Freeth D. & Reeves S. 2004, Learning to work together: using the presage, process,product (3P) model to highlight decisions and possibilities. Journal of Interprofessional Care 18 (1), 43-56. Gilbert J. 2005, Interprofessional Education for Collaborative Patient-Centred Practice. Nursing Leadership 18(2), 32-38. King N. & Ross A. 2003, Professional Identities and Interprofessional Relations: Evaluation of Collaborative Community Schemes. Social Work in Health Care, 38(2), 51-72. Meads G. Ashcroft J. Barr H. Scott R. & Wild A. (2008). The Case for Interprofessional Collaboration: In Health and Social Care: John Wiley & Sons. London. Miers M. Barrett , G. & Clarke B. 2005, Evaluating an Interprofessional Curriculum: Meeting the research challenge. Retrieved April 24, 2013, from http://nursingmanagement.rcnpublishing.co.uk/archive/article-the-role-of-nurses-in-interprofessional-health-and-social-care-teams Orchard C. Curran V. & Kabene S. 2005, Creating a culture for interdisciplinary collaborative professional practice. Medical Education 10 (11), 1-11. Ross A. King N., & Firth J. 2005, Interprofessional Relationships and Collaborative Working: Encouraging Reflective Practice. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing Vol. 10 No. 1. Scott R. Lewin, S. Espin S. & Zwarenstein, M. 2008, Interprofessional Teamwork for Health and Social Care;Volume 8 of Promoting Partnership for Health. London: John Wiley & Sons. Stuart G. 2002, Embedding practice based, interprofessional education into the curriculum. Retrieved April 24, 2013, from Social Policy and Social Work Case Study Website: www.swap.ac.uk/links/casestudy.asp?casefind=csgstuart Trodd L. & Chivers L. 2011, Interprofessional Working in Practice: Learning and Working Together for Children and Families. UK: McGraw-Hill International. University of Cumbria. 1988,Gibbs' (1988) reflective cycle. Retrieved April 24, 2013, from http://www.cumbria.ac.uk/Public/LISS/Documents/skillsatcumbria/ReflectiveCycleGibbs.pdf Read More