Teamwork And Collaboration In Nursing
Discussing the importance of teamwork and collaboration increases our awareness to improve our skills and knowledge. This is especially focused towards the nursing profession wherein every individual will have the chance to cooperate to every medical procedure that impacts nursing professionalism. This paper will seek to find out the factors affecting teamwork and collaboration within the nursing practice. Focusing on the nursing profession, the paper seeks to identify the regulations, impacts, and the consequences of teamwork and collaboration in the healthcare institution. In addition, this paper seeks to identify learning insights associated with the teamwork and collaboration with the nurses.
Teamwork
Teamwork is the process of having the whole team that is working together as one unit. In the field of nursing practice, teamwork is usually observed in each department of an operating hospital. The nurses, doctors, and nurse assistants usually work as one unit to treat patients. In every hospital, the emergency, ward, intensive care units, and hospice care centers have different responsibilities. One example is when the emergency room department admits a patient. The nurses are obliged conduct a thorough physical assessment, diagnosing the patient, and endorsing to their respective wards.
Collaboration
Collaboration within the nursing profession is a regular routine amongst nurses and other healthcare personnel. This occurs before and after they care for the patient. The first collaboration occurs when the paramedics will report the patient to the emergency room to treat the wounds or any illness symptoms. Then the Emergency Department team will start collaborating with other departments if the patient will be admitted. The nurse-on-duty in the emergency room will ask for available rooms or beds in the wards before endorsing the patient. Thus, collaboration with other department is already taking place within the healthcare facility.
Nursing Protocol for teamwork and collaboration
- A nurse should be licensed before working in the hospital. This is the basic and the first requirement for every hospital institution to practice their profession as a nurse. This is strictly collaborates between the hospital and the local government units of the community. Similarly, other allied healthcare professionals are also required to follow similar rules or protocols. All hospitals do not accept health care personnel who are not licensed. They will never risk their patient’s safety from any legal or ethical misconduct if they will employ personnel who are not licensed.
- Check for the doctor’s order. The responsibility of the nurse is to assist the doctors. It is important for the nurses and allied healthcare personnel to check for the doctor’s order. The main reason is to ensure that the validity of the nursing and medical actions will be identified and followed. The nurse is not allowed to administer medications without the order of the physician. This is a part of the collaboration and teamwork protocol to the nursing standards. In this way, the nurse can be held liable for either legal or ethical offense that could impact their professionalism within the workplace.
- The nurse should observe proper documentation. Teamwork and collaboration are always based on the verbal endorsements created by the nurses. This is similar to the actions taken by the doctors on duty. Charting is an important documentation as a reference point made by nurses and medical practitioners. Before or after finishing their duties, the nurses conduct endorsement procedures so that they are able to continue their professional care towards the patient. This simple action indicates an effective and accurate collaboration process. The aim is to minimize any health risks and hazards applied to the patients while under the care of the nurses and other allied medical professionals.
- If there is an escalation, the nurse should consult their supervisors. Health care institution is not always perfect. They admit that there are risks for receiving criticisms and rants by consumers who have been known to show signs of temper. In this case, any complaints received by the nurses are required to report the incident to their supervisors. This is to ensure that the collaboration takes place when the supervisor will help their subordinates to solve a certain issue. This is especially when there are either ethical or legal issues that are raised by the patients regarding a certain care.
Conclusion
It has been concluded that the process of teamwork and collaboration in nursing plays an important role in fulfilling the visions and missions of the hospital. There is an ideal way of promoting the patient’s safety and recovery through the process of teamwork and collaboration. Teamwork is concentrated in one group while collaboration involves other groups with their independent scope of responsibility. The pattern of teamwork and collaboration allow nurses and allied healthcare professional to work as one unit. This is an essential part of the nursing profession wherein they provide an interdependent approach to treat the patient’s health care needs.
