Interprofessional Collaboration Analysis

Interprofessional collaboration is an important aspect associated within the medical field. This is a time when different kinds of professionals collaborate with one another about a patient’s health status and condition. “Specifically, interprofessionality is a ‘process by which professionals reflect on and develop ways of practicing that provides an integrated and cohesive answer to the needs of the client/family/population…(involving) continuous interaction and knowledge sharing between professionals” (Black, 2014). The collaboration of different professionals allows for a better decision to be made towards the patient’s health outcomes. A twenty-year-old man was on the unit because he was diagnosed with a new onset of diabetes.

The physician was responsible for listing and writing down everything about the patient’s current status. The collaboration was needed so that they can come to an agreement on weather or not to discharge the patient. Verbal communication was used. The communication was effective because both the nurse and the resident were able to confirm how the patient was capable of doing his finger stick, and counting his carbs on his own. I was the student nurse for this patient, and my responsibilities consist of taking the patient’s vital signs. I was not involved in the collaboration, but my thoughts during the situation was that it would be a really good idea to talk about the patient’s situation in order to verify that everyone is on the same page. If I were to place myself in the patient’s shoes during this situation, the feeling I would endure is safety and security. The reason why I would feel this way is because of the fact that so many health care professionals are collaborating with one another in order to ensure adequate teaching and information. An ethical principle to include related to this experience would be beneficence. In order to lead to a beneficial outcome for this patient and to prevent any harm from occurring, the health care providers collaborated with one another for the patient’s benefit and safety. Another ethical principle that comes into play is non-maleficence, which is defined as duty to do

“Collaboration among nurses, physicians, and other members of the care team can improve the outcomes of care for patients” (Engel & Prentice, 2013; IOM, 2010). The patient outcome is related to interprofessional communication because multiple professionals make the patient’s goals. This will give the patient the best possible outcomes upon discharge. Many years from now, I’ll take this experience with me to better myself as a nurse. The nurse of my patient collaborated with the resident to make sure the patient counted the carbs of his food correctly. The nurse wanted to make sure that the right insulin dose would be administered to the patient. My patient’s nurse was being an advocate for this patient, so he would not be sent home without knowing to correctly count his carbs. I will take this experience with me as I approach my future-nursing career, because I see how important it is to achieve positive patient outcomes. Without any interprofessional communication, many patient errors can occur. The reason many errors can occur is because the patients situation wont be viewed my multiple individuals, which can cause a wrong decision to be made. I know for the future that it is in my patient’s best interest, if I collaborate with other health care professionals before I come up with a decision about my patient on my