Nurse: Health Care Field Essay

The health care field has numerous amounts of individuals that care for patients or assist with their care. All persons that assists with a patients care must be able to communicate effectively amongst each other and this includes the nurse. Nursing is a communicative intervention and is founded on effective communication. Nurses have to communicate with various people such as: patients, families, physicians, and or consultants to provide the best care for his or her patients. So communication is the most important aspect when it comes to caring properly for patients. Communication is the simple element of human relations that allows people to establish, maintain and improve interactions with others. â€Å"Communication is essential when reporting a patient’s status, change in condition, or developing and revising the plan of care† (Fernandez, Johnson, & Jones, 2010, pg. 266). Furthermore, the importance of effective communication includes an interdisciplinary team approach which in turn promotes safe and effective health care for the patient. All health care professionals share a mutual commitment to serve the patient and work towards optimal health care for the patient. This is carried out by using the interdisciplinary approach of health care. Interdisciplinary team is defined, â€Å"as a group of health care professionals from diverse fields work in a coordinated fashion toward a common goal for the patient† (Saunders, 2013, pg. 60). This makes each team member valuable, and when each team member’s expertise and perspective is brought together patient care is improved and delivered in a more complete and effective manner. The facility at work at uses the interdisciplinary care approach when we receive trauma patients. These trauma patients can range from motor vehicle collision, shooting victims, or any incidents involving life threatening injuries. Each member of the trauma team has a title or a role within the team such as: team leader, manager, or facilitator. For example, the emergency room resident is in charge of the neurology assessment and airway, the trauma resident and trauma attending are responsible for the rest of the assessment. We also have a primary nurse that records all events that take place in the trauma room. Another member is the intensive care nurse, she delivers all the meds and any other skill that are needed for the patient. We also have a phlebotomist, chaplin, and respiratory therapist on the team. Other doctors are also available if other injuries such as: broken bones, neurologic conditions, or cardiac conditions arise. All the members of this team, brings valuable professional safe care to the trauma patient promoting optimal outcomes. â€Å"Ineffective communication is a leading cause of preventable patient injuries and deaths† (Fernandez, Johnson, & Jones, 2010, pg. 265). If all the members of the health care team are not communicating effectively it can jeopardize the care of the patient and also exhaust the interdisciplinary team. This is why communication is very important when providing care for patients. Another approach to health care is the intradisciplinary approach. The intradisciplinary approach is an individual that works alone to promote health in patients. An example of this is a home healthcare nurse. The home health care nurse provides care for a patient in his or her home. This nurse works alone when caring for patients. This professional nurse has to be organized and able to make decision on his or her own regarding the patients care. I feel the home health care nurse must be very knowledgeable is his or her field and have keen assessment skills. This nurse should have experience within the hospital before deciding to care for others at their home. This difference with interdisciplinary care is that the nurse has multiple resources at the time of care for the patient. caring for Finally, working as a team in the health care field helps empower not only the nurse, but also the patient. â€Å"Empowerment is a transactional process involving relationship with others. This relationship includes mutually beneficial sharing through mutual sharing of knowledge, resources, and opportunities; and respect for self and others† (Burkhardt & Nathaniel, 2008, pg. 72). This develops the professional nurse to provide successful, safe care for his or her patients. When patients witness nurses and physicians working together to assist with his or her health care. This in turn enables and may motivate the patient to â€Å"develop awareness of area that need change, foster a desire to take action, and share resources, skills, and opportunities that support change† (Burkhardt & Nathaniel, 2008, pg. 471) in his or her health . The nurses and patients experience and perspective regarding healthcare empowers them to make change patient to become advocates in their health.