Reflection on Inter-Professional Care - Essay Example

?REFLECTION ON HOW INTERACTION WITH OTHER PROFESSIONS INFORMED MY UNDERSTANDING OF INTER-PROFESSIONAL CARE AND MY PRACTICE IN RELATION TO PATIENT CENTEREDNESS By Name Course Tutor’s Name Institution 19th, February, 2012 Reflection on How Interaction with Other Professions Informed My Understanding of Inter-Professional Care and My Practice In Relation To Patient Centeredness Introduction Collaborative care between health care providers such as nurses and practitioners with other professionals is crucial for apposite health care delivery. It ensures that patients receive quality and patient centered care. Nurse work in an environment that requires interactions with colleagues and other professionals. The practice maybe within hospital or could be community based. Moreover, the settings under which nurses operate are characterized by the need for collaborative interactions. During my practice, I received input from fellow nursing student. However, I have also received numerous inputs from the wards, OTs and the Physiotherapy. This reflective essay focuses my interactions with other professions, how the interactions have informed my understanding of inter-professional care and my practice in relation to patient centeredness. The case I will reflect on involved an elderly female patient who was living alone. She was admitted into the hospital after she fell at home. Because of the fall, the patient had limited mobility. For diagnosis, she underwent an x-ray. The x-ray revealed extensive damage on the knee. However, the damage had not resulted from the fall but was due to severe arthritis. She was not going to be considered for a knee replacement mainly due to her age. After checking on the family background, it was unfortunate that the lady had alienated her family and completely severed all contact. Additonally, the lady had no contact with her neighbors and had live most of her old age life alone relying on herself. She had bad relations even with members of the society. The bad relations with other people could be attributable to her character. This is because the old lady is prone to making accusations against all the people she meets. The lady wished to return to her home. Therefore, the Occupational Therapist (OT) had to do a home assessment to ensure that the environment was appropriate. After the assessment, the OT felt that there was need for a significant clear out of the lady’s home. This is because the lady would have to use a pulpit for mobility purposes. The device is quite large and the lady would have to live in the living room. Although the lady insisted on being left to go back to her residence, I felt that such an arrangement would not function appropriately for a long period, since she had no relations. The OT had another challenge. Nobody was willing to help in the clearing out the house since the lady had severed all the relation she ever had. Moreover, the physical condition she was in could not allow her to do the clearing since she needed to use a wheelchair, which she had not yet received. The only solution was for the patient to employ a solicitor and give him the power of an attorney to oversee the implementation of all the needed changes. Another problem that the OT had noticed was the nonfunctional fire alarm in the lady’s home. When she told me about it, I suggested for a complete fire inspection by the local fire brigade. After the inspection, the fire brigade put the patient’s name in the register of the vulnerable people and those with mobility issues. Although the OT wanted us to get the lady a personal alarm, it was impossible at that moment since the three people in the community were required to be used as contact. However, no one was willing to be involved with anything to do with the old lady. Therefore, the OT suggested a small mobile house phone that could be carried with the pocket. Following my interaction with the OT, the old sick lady, the community and other different professions, I was able to understand the significance of interactions between nurses and other professions in enhancing care provision especially in community based care. I was impressed by the determination of the OT to help the old lady overcome the various challenges related to her condition. The OT ensured that she handled everything appropriately such that the old lady had nothing to complain about. The good interactions between the OT and different professions were impressive and enabled her deal with the various obstacles that characterized the case. From the interactions, I learnt that we as health professions are likely to find ourselves in vulnerable positions as we try to do our jobs. From the challenges that the lady could not deal with due to her bad relations with people, I learnt the need to have good relations with others irrespective of their profession since there might be need to work with them while dealing with various situation. Moreover, the way the OT handled the case made me understand the importance of patient centered care. From the situation, I learnt that appearances could be deceptive. However, I learnt that we must always not let the patient’s character or background to prevent us from offering appropriate care. In addition, I learnt that it is important to pay attention to the paper work that accompanies a patient and use it to make decisions without jumping into conclusions. Although I had little understanding of the duties of an OT, I managed to understand the challenges they face in their work. Moreover, the interaction enabled me to realize the importance of interaction between different professions in offering patient centered care. Although the doctors and radiologists aided in doing the diagnosis, the role of the OT was important and played a crucial role in ensuring that the patient lived in an appropriate environment for comfort and faster healing. Conclusively, my collaboration with the OT was valuable and her approach of dealing with the problem overwhelmed me. She was both imaginative and ensured that her decisions were implemented. Moreover, al her decisions were patient centered and aimed at ensuring that the patient received the best care possible. This made me understand the meaning and importance of patient centered care since the OT went beyond what was required of her as a therapist. From my collaboration with the therapist, I realized the importance of interactions between different professions in offering patient centered care. From the interaction, it was evident that health professions can learn to offer better care by interaction and collaborative practice. Moreover, the experience increased my awareness of the roles of other profession groups. This is important since it will enable me work in an inter-professional team. Moreover, the experience increased my communication and collaborative skills. Read More