The Interprofessional Team Model

The interprofessional team model is a group comprised of various healthcare disciplines working together towards common goals to meet the needs of the patient population. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines interprofessional collaboration in healthcare as occurring “when multiple health workers from different professional backgrounds provide comprehensive services by working with patients, their families, and communities to deliver the highest quality of care across settings” (WHO, 2010, p.13). In my final practicum at I have experienced interprofessional collaboration, while involved with the methadone program at Rosthern Hospital. Nurses have an important role in the methadone program, and the involvement of nurses in the program

The methadone program at Rosthern Hospital is a very active and intense program. Boast over 20 patients that are regular methadone users, the involvement of the physicians, pharmacists, nurses, and addiction counselors are key (Melle, 2016). Dr. Melle is the coordinator of the methadone program at Rosthern Hospital. His roles include, patient recruitment, patient care management, follow up care, and most importantly prescription and dosage of the methadone (Melle, 2016). Pharmacist’s role in methadone treatment is providing the methadone to the hospital, as well as in Warman pharmacy they monitor and dispense some methadone to some of the patients in the methadone program. Addiction counselors are an outside resource that the staff at Rosthern hospital can utilize. There are not social workers or counselors at Rosthern, but Dr. Melle and the nurses prefer if their patients are regularly seeing an addiction counselor while in the methadone program. Finally, the nurses role in the methadone program is early treatment and monitoring of patients during detox, the continued monitoring or patients when methadone doses change, dispensing methadone and monitoring our patients in the recovery program, and observation of patient’s success during the program. Together the interprofessional team has successfully treated dozens of patients, and the methadone program address the needs of both the patients and the addiction issues that are plaguing the surrounding communities (Melle,