NURS 8002 Practice Intra- and Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Walden University NURS 8002 Practice Intra- and Interdisciplinary Collaboration-Step-By-Step Guide

This guide will demonstrate how to complete the Walden University NURS 8002 Practice Intra- and Interdisciplinary Collaboration assignment based on general principles of academic writing. Here, we will show you the A, B, Cs of completing an academic paper, irrespective of the instructions. After guiding you through what to do, the guide will leave one or two sample essays at the end to highlight the various sections discussed below.

How to Research and Prepare for NURS 8002 Practice Intra- and Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Whether one passes or fails an academic assignment such as the Walden University NURS 8002 Practice Intra- and Interdisciplinary Collaboration depends on the preparation done beforehand. The first thing to do once you receive an assignment is to quickly skim through the requirements. Once that is done, start going through the instructions one by one to clearly understand what the instructor wants. The most important thing here is to understand the required format—whether it is APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.

After understanding the requirements of the paper, the next phase is to gather relevant materials. The first place to start the research process is the weekly resources. Go through the resources provided in the instructions to determine which ones fit the assignment. After reviewing the provided resources, use the university library to search for additional resources. After gathering sufficient and necessary resources, you are now ready to start drafting your paper.

How to Write the Introduction for NURS 8002 Practice Intra- and Interdisciplinary Collaboration

The introduction for the Walden University NURS 8002 Practice Intra- and Interdisciplinary Collaboration is where you tell the instructor what your paper will encompass. In three to four statements, highlight the important points that will form the basis of your paper. Here, you can include statistics to show the importance of the topic you will be discussing. At the end of the introduction, write a clear purpose statement outlining what exactly will be contained in the paper. This statement will start with “The purpose of this paper…” and then proceed to outline the various sections of the instructions.

How to Write the Body for NURS 8002 Practice Intra- and Interdisciplinary Collaboration

After the introduction, move into the main part of the NURS 8002 Practice Intra- and Interdisciplinary Collaboration assignment, which is the body. Given that the paper you will be writing is not experimental, the way you organize the headings and subheadings of your paper is critically important. In some cases, you might have to use more subheadings to properly organize the assignment. The organization will depend on the rubric provided. Carefully examine the rubric, as it will contain all the detailed requirements of the assignment. Sometimes, the rubric will have information that the normal instructions lack.

Another important factor to consider at this point is how to do citations. In-text citations are fundamental as they support the arguments and points you make in the paper. At this point, the resources gathered at the beginning will come in handy. Integrating the ideas of the authors with your own will ensure that you produce a comprehensive paper. Also, follow the given citation format. In most cases, APA 7 is the preferred format for nursing assignments.

How to Write the Conclusion for NURS 8002 Practice Intra- and Interdisciplinary Collaboration

After completing the main sections, write the conclusion of your paper. The conclusion is a summary of the main points you made in your paper. However, you need to rewrite the points and not simply copy and paste them. By restating the points from each subheading, you will provide a nuanced overview of the assignment to the reader.

How to Format the References List for NURS 8002 Practice Intra- and Interdisciplinary Collaboration

The very last part of your paper involves listing the sources used in your paper. These sources should be listed in alphabetical order and double-spaced. Additionally, use a hanging indent for each source that appears in this list. Lastly, only the sources cited within the body of the paper should appear here.

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Sample Answer for NURS 8002 Practice Intra- and Interdisciplinary Collaboration

You are the DNP-prepared nurse responsible for overseeing a large intensive care unit (ICU). You have noticed that in the last 3 months, the number of nosocomial, or hospital-acquired infections (HAIs), has dramatically increased among patients who have undergone cardiovascular procedures. You would like to initiate a practice study to determine the source of these HAIs and to improve patient outcomes in your ICU.

Collaboration, especially inter-professional collaboration in primary pediatric care, is an essential step in provision of quality and cost-effective care to patients. Professionals from different specialties in healthcare collaborate through sharing, trust, and having common goals and respect for each other. These individuals work together by exchanging ideas, knowledge, and skills to attain a common goal of providing safe, adequate and quality care to pediatric patients in their clinical settings (Gauger et al., 2018). The purpose of this paper is to discuss interdisciplinary collaboration in pediatric primary care and its effects on a host of issues like outcomes, clinical decision making and potential barriers and its promotion.

A Doctor of Nurse Practice (DNP) and a Doctor of Philosophy in nursing (PhD) have similarities in that they are both research focused. However, having a PhD in nursing means that the research that is done is research that is original. Meaning, the PhD of nursing is finding groundbreaking research that will create new processes in healthcare. PhD grads are “prepared for careers as nurse scholars to conduct research that advances the discipline of nursing, health, and health care quality” (Johns Hopkins University, 2022). DNP grads are prepared “to become expert clinicians by applying research and knowledge to create more efficient practices and better patient outcomes” (Thomas, 2018). The DNP program involves research, but the difference is that the DNP uses the research and evidence-based processes created by the PhD. The DNP is focused on “quality improvement” and improved patient outcomes.

Effects of Multidisciplinary Collaboration on Clinical Decision-Making

Multidisciplinary collaboration involves working together through teams and effective coordination in making clinical decisions among healthcare providers in pediatric care. Collaboration assists in enhancing team satisfaction and developing a positive attitude towards all care providers irrespective of their departments and units since one focuses towards the attainment of a common goal, which entails the provision of safe and quality care. Multidisciplinary collaboration allows the team to table the choices at hand, the risks and benefits and incorporate patient preferences and values, which are critical to attaining the best treatment approaches for patients (Godoy et al., 2017). The implication is that collaboration is key to clinical decision-making as all providers share their ideas and only those that incorporate best approaches picked unanimously based on the prevailing values. Thus, multidisciplinary collaborations promote efficiency responsiveness and family and patient involvement leading to improved care delivery and quality outcomes.

Collaboration and Improved Patient Outcomes

Collaboration in health care settings is one of the critical factors in enhancing patients’ outcomes. Collaboration ensures that there is team care, which mitigates the possibilities of events like adverse drug reactions that may lead to a child’s mortality. Collaboration improves inter-professional communication and dissemination of healthcare knowledge to all those impacted by the decisions and actions taken by the providers. Further, it assists in enhancing efficiency and quality of care as it implies that the professionals have effective coordination. Medical errors occur due to ineffective communication and poor coordination. However, through collaboration, providers develop effective communication protocols to improve hands off approaches like the Situation, Background, Assessment and Recommendation (SBAR) tool. Communication allows providers to understand patient needs and improve overall outcomes (Noh & Lee, 2018). The implication is that would better coordination through collaboration, the different health professionals cannot attain quality patient outcomes due to poor communication

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What types of interdisciplinary collaboration might be needed to support the goals of your practice study?
As outlined in the scenario, the likelihood to engage in interdisciplinary collaboration to enhance healthcare delivery and nursing practice is high. In fact, it is likely that the DNP-prepared nurse in the scenario presented may need to collaborate with an infection prevention specialist (who may be a PhD-prepared nurse or PhD-credentialed healthcare professional). While this represents only one potential area in which interprofessional collaboration may take place in advanced nursing practice, it is important to keep in mind that when disciplines work together toward a shared goal that focuses on the patient, the quality and cost of care delivered will be optimized (Johnson & Johnson, 2016).
For this Blog Assignment, review the Learning Resources and reflect on strategies that may be used to foster interdisciplinary collaboration in nursing practice. Reflect on strategies and approaches you might recommend that support interdisciplinary collaboration in practice.
Reference:
Johnson & Johnson. (2016). The importance of interprofessional collaboration in healthcare.
https://nursing.jnj.com/getting-real-nursing-today/the-importance-of-interprofessional-collaboration-in-healthcare
To prepare:
• Review the Henry et. al. (2018) article in this week’s Learning Resources about collaboration through case study design.
• Reflect on how the approach of case study design may apply toward fostering intra- and interdisciplinary collaboration in practice.
• Select at least one of the articles from this week’s Learning Resources and reflect on how professional collaboration is executed to address the needs described in the article.
• Reflect on your own experiences with intra- and interdisciplinary collaboration in your practice.
By Day 3 of Week 6
Post a response to your Blog describing your own experiences with intra- and interdisciplinary collaboration in your practice. What were the strengths and weaknesses of this collaboration? How might your own experiences mirror the perspectives and viewpoints presented in the Henry et al. (2018) case study design approach? Be specific and provide examples.
By Day 5 of Week 6
Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses and respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days by expanding on your colleague’s post or suggesting an alternative viewpoint/perspective on the experiences described by your colleagues.

Sample Answer 2 for NURS 8002 Practice Intra- and Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Case study design is a great idea towards fostering critical thinking skills needed in nursing practice, this leads to fostering collaboration among various disciplines and understanding more of what they do, and expanding thoughts and problem solving skills for students to help guide them in the real world once they graduate. IPEC (2011) as cited by the National League of Nursing (2015) noted team training in educational programs lag behind the actual practice of working in teams, which is a gap that exists between the realities of practice and the utilization of teamwork skills to deliver patient-centered care. Implementing these case study designs are effective when needing to truly commit to learning and expanding the knowledge base of the nursing student. Collaboration with different professionals allows the student to better understand the dynamics of each individual professional area, work as a team and allow them to actually see what role that discipline plays in implementing improved care for the patient. Developing a relationship to work together while understanding each discipline’s role in patient-care assists in building respect, better partnerships and better health outcomes. Barr (1998) as cited in Henry et al. (2018) points out competency based interprofessional education relevancy stages include recognizing and respecting the roles of other professionals. This is an important piece with collaboration and making it work to be effective.
Professional collaboration is used to address the needs of patient care by way of using a team of professionals making decisions based on the specific needs of the patient’s, in order to improve the care they receive. Interprofessional case conferences is one way the article uses an analysis of the case at hand. Coming together to combine knowledge that exists among the various disciplines to brainstorm and problem solve is just one way collaboration is incorporated to provide what is needed. As Henry et al. (2018) points out, seeing problems through the eyes of another, is a way of requiring students to transfer their problem solving strategies in new ways (Hmelo-Silver, 2004). This contributes to the education students need to expand on their foundational knowledge broadening their understanding of what is involved with treating the patient as a whole.
I recall my first experience with interdisciplinary collaboration as a new nurse in an orthopedic unit. Once a week the patient’s primary nurse, the physician and referral partner (ie. cardiologist, internist), the social worker, dietician and charge nurse would do grand rounds on the patients, then sit for a conference to determine what the patient needed at that time and upon discharge, and we would then review how we would make it all happen. Collaboration was found essential for the goal of faster recovery, shorter hospital stays and improved care after discharge to prevent negative outcomes in the long run. Ansa et al. (2020) points out interprofessional collaboration in healthcare is a partnership among diverse health professionals to provide quality care to patients, families and caregivers. It is an effective measure to provide teamwork to problem solving complex health issues one patient at a time.
Initially, thirty years ago I saw those rounds as just an additional task at work. When I was placed into the position of charge nurse, I began to understand more clearly how significant each role was within that collaboration and how it ultimately impacted the patients. This is proof of the need for case study design in education to prepare nurses for the real world of collaboration. Once within the professional setting I would suggest placing nurses weekly with a member of the interdisciplinary team, to get a more personal view and understanding of what each discipline involves and how they function to assist with patient care. Then ultimately involve the nurse and a member of the team to work together to problem solve and resolve issues of care for a patient. Keeping a goal in mind for the patient and teaming up a nurse with a team member weekly may allow for a more focused application of care for the patient, and allow for more focused collaborative thinking with the team member.

References:

Ansa, B. E., Zechariah, S., Gates, A. M., Johnson, S. W., Heboyan, V., & De Leo, G. (2020).
Attitudes and behavior towards interprofessional collaboration among healthcare
Professionals in a large academic medical center. Healthcare, 8(3), 1-14.
https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare8030323
Barr, H. (1998). Competent to collaborate: Towards a competency-based model for
Interprofessional education. Journal of interprofessional Care, 12, 181-187.
doi:10.3109/13561829809014104
Henry, B., Male, B., Garner, C., & Guernon, A. (2018). Teaching and learning about
Interprofessional collaboration through student-designed case study and analysis.
International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 30(3), 560-570.
Hmelo-Silver, C. E. (2004). Problem-based learning: What and how do students learn?
Educational Psychology Review, 16(3), 235-266.
Interprofessional Education Collaborative Expert Panel (IPEC). (2011). Core competencies
For interprofessional collaborative practice: Report of an expert panel. Washington,
DC: IPEC
National League for Nursing. (2015). Interprofessional collaboration in education and practice.
http://www.nln.org/docs/default-source/default-document-library/ipe-ipp-vi-sion.pdf?sfvrs
n=14

Sample Answer 3 for NURS 8002 Practice Intra- and Interdisciplinary Collaboration

This is insightful. The success of the case study under consideration relies on effective collaboration with other people from various disciplines. The contribution of other experts is necessary for ensuring the integration of different approaches essential in implementing components of the entire project (Peltonen et al., 2020). Professional collaboration is one of the best ways of incorporating different expertise into the project. In most cases, professional collaboration is used to address patient care needs by using a team of professionals making decisions based on the specific needs of the patients to improve the care they receive (Ansa et al., 2020). Professional collaboration may involve ensuring effective communication, coordination, and sharing ideas. Today, most healthcare institutions advocate for interprofessional collaboration; succinctly, it is required that nursing, physicians, and other healthcare professionals work as a team to provide integrated care and address research processes with the aim of achieving overall improved healthcare outcomes (Meijer et al., 2016).

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References

Ansa, B. E., Zechariah, S., Gates, A. M., Johnson, S. W., Heboyan, V., & De Leo, G. (2020).
Attitudes and behavior towards interprofessional collaboration among healthcare
Professionals in a large academic medical center. Healthcare, 8(3), 1-14.
https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare8030323
Peltonen, J., Leino-Kilpi, H., Heikkilä, H., Rautava, P., Tuomela, K., Siekkinen, M., … & Stolt, M. (2020). Instruments measuring interprofessional collaboration in healthcare–a scoping review. Journal of interprofessional care, 34(2), 147-161. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13561820.2019.1637336
Meijer, L., de Groot, E., Blaauw-Westerlaken, M., & Damoiseaux, R. (2016). Intraprofessional collaboration and learning between specialist and general practitioners during postgraduate training: a qualitative study. BMC Health Services Research, 16, 376. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4982222/

Sample Answer 4 for NURS 8002 Practice Intra- and Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Healthcare professionals often build collaborative relationships amongst each other for learning and assisting for a positive outcome. It is not rare to see intraprofessional collaboration within a floor, in which two or more professions within a discipline, such as healthcare professionals, come together to improve the delivery of care (Meijer, 2016). In primary care, family nurse practitioner often collaborates with specialty practitioners to implement refractory health conditions such as hypertension or diabetes mellitus that cannot be controlled. The two or more practitioners collaborate to find the answer to benefit patients and implement interventions for optimal patient outcomes. Another example is when a primary care practitioner finds a lesion that is atypical during a pelvic exam and seeks assistance identifying the lesion from the OBGYN practitioner while the biopsy is sent and pending result.
Similar to intraprofessional collaboration, interprofessional collaboration is when two or more different professions work together to achieve a common goal and/or solve complex issues (Green & Johnson, 2015). In an ambulatory center, it is essential that the medical director, nursing director, and even office manager collaborate to fill in any gaps that the center faces. Learning, sharing data, and disseminating knowledge to one another professional to address issues and improve patient care and health care delivery is one of the core teamwork values in this facility.
According to Green & Johnson (2015), the benefit of professional collaboration is reducing risk and cost while forming strategic innovation learning and interventions; in healthcare, intraprofessional and interprofessional collaboration promotes a safe and healthy environment, decreases medical error, and decreases mortality, and increase healthcare staff satisfaction. Challenges with professional collaboration include cultural differences, authority, and communication that may cause conflict and barriers to interprofessional and intraprofessional collaboration (Green & Johnson, 2015). For example, the ambulatory procedure center notices the increase of unsigned informed consent forms. The medical director and nursing director assess and collect data from the surgeons and nurses present for informed consent. The professionals share information and generate solutions such as a “checklist” for the surgeon, patient, and nurses to sign to ensure each step is checked without shortcuts. The ambulatory procedure center noticed a significant decrease in unsigned informed consent.
Henry et al. (2018) found their case study on student who underwent teaching and learning about interprofessional collaboration developed collaborative competencies to learn and share information to generate strategies to solve complex problems to improve health outcomes. It is essential to recognize the importance of intradisciplinary and interdisciplinary collaboration and build collaborating skills to maximize patient health.

References

Green, B. & Johnson, C. (2015). Interprofessional collaboration in research, education, and clinical practice: working together for a better future. Journal of Chiropractic Education, 29(1), 1-10. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4360764/
Henry, B., Male, B., Garner, C., & Guernon, A. (2018). Teaching and learning about interprofessional collaboration through student-designed case study and analysis. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 30(3), 560-570. https://search-ebscohost-com.wap.waldenulibrary.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edo&an=133592241&site=eds-live&scope=site
Meijer, L., de Groot, E., Blaauw-Westerlaken, M., & Damoiseaux, R. (2016). Intraprofessional collaboration and learning between specialist and general practitioners during postgraduate training: a qualitative study. BMC Health Services Research, 16, 376. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4982222/

Sample Answer 5 for NURS 8002 Practice Intra- and Interdisciplinary Collaboration

This is insightful KO KIM; healthcare professionals often build collaborative relationships to learn and assist for a positive outcome. Developing interprofessional collaboration is necessary for ensuring respectful and relational processes among nursing colleagues. Today, most healthcare institutions are involved in developing effective collaboration strategies to facilitate the delivery of quality healthcare to patients. Professional collaboration allows for the effective use of skills, knowledge, as well as talents in undertaking research, evidence-based practices, and general treatment processes (Goldsberry, 2018). Besides, interprofessional collaboration often takes into account workers’ experiences, ideas, as well as opinions. When employees work together openly, organizational objectives and processes become more aligned, leading to successful processes (Peltonen et al., 2020). Through professional collaboration, most organizations have been able to reduce risks and costs in delivering healthcare services (Müller et al., 2018). Interprofessional collaboration is essentials for organizations that want to achieve quality patient outcomes. Effective interprofessional collaboration can enhance the achievement of family and patient-centered goals as well as values.

References

Goldsberry, J. W. (2018). Advanced practice nurses leading the way: Interprofessional collaboration. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0260691718300960
Müller, C. A., Fleischmann, N., Cavazzini, C., Heim, S., Seide, S., Geister, C., … & Hummers, E. (2018). Interprofessional collaboration in nursing homes (interprof): development and piloting of measures to improve interprofessional collaboration and communication: a qualitative multicentre study. BMC family practice, 19(1), 1-11. https://bmcfampract.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12875-017-0678-1
Peltonen, J., Leino-Kilpi, H., Heikkilä, H., Rautava, P., Tuomela, K., Siekkinen, M., … & Stolt, M. (2020). Instruments measuring interprofessional collaboration in healthcare–a scoping review. Journal of interprofessional care, 34(2), 147-161. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13561820.2019.1637336

Sample Answer 6 for NURS 8002 Practice Intra- and Interdisciplinary Collaboration

References:

Sample Answer 7 for NURS 8002 Practice Intra- and Interdisciplinary Collaboration

References

Sample Answer 8 for NURS 8002 Practice Intra- and Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Interprofessional collaboration approaches patient care from a team-based perspective, with the team having different disciplines. By implementing intra-professional and interprofessional collaboration in healthcare settings, health workers of other disciplines can work more effectively as a team to achieve improved patient outcomes and a conducive workplace (Discover Nursing, 2023).

As healthcare service delivery advances, communication, connection, and coordination between nurses, pharmacists, physicians, social workers, and other disciplines are crucial to improving health systems and patient care.

Describe your own experiences with intra- and interdisciplinary collaboration in your practice.

An example of an instance requiring interprofessional collaboration that comes to mind is an event involving a four-year-old patient who experienced acute respiratory distress. The facility does not regularly treat pediatric patients. Prior to the patient’s arrival, all nurses on duty expressed anxiety and stress related to their uncertainties and inexperience with the pediatric population. Additional resources were called in for the situation, including a respiratory therapist, a former pediatric nurse practitioner, and a flight nurse. Recognizing limitations in scope of practice and knowledge of an appropriate resources led to a safe transfer following the infant’s stabilization.
Looking back on the situation, further education in pediatric emergency services is needed. Providing time to reflect on stressful events as a team is also important. Factors promoting effective teamwork in this situation included an established rapport, mutual respect, transparent communication, and a shared common goal of achieving quality continuity of care.

Strength of Interprofessional Collaboration

Interprofessional collaboration brings different disciplines to work together and recognize the value of other skill sets that enhance the workplace to achieve the common goal of quality patient outcomes.

Interprofessional collaboration enhances good communication between healthcare workers, speeding up decision-making in a high clinical environment. Intra and interprofessional communication has been identified as one of the six standards for establishing a healthy working environment. They work together to enhance a team-based mentality and improve employee satisfaction, leading to a conducive work environment where all health workers can thrive.

Improved patient outcomes can be achieved through interprofessional collaboration by reducing the adverse effects of drugs, preventing hospitalization, reducing mortality and morbidity rates, and improving medication dosages. Patient outcomes improve when healthcare teams work together by reducing medical errors and preventing complications.

Weakness of Interprofessional Collaboration

Most factors that affect effective collaboration include a lack of role clarification, limited resources, time constraints, misunderstanding in the scope of responsibilities, ineffective communication, distrust, power differentials, and conflicting perspectives.

How might your experiences mirror the perspectives and viewpoints of the Henry et al. (2018) case study design approach?

Henry et al. (2018) described Barr’s model for competency-based interprofessional education as the critical abilities applicable to various stages of the learning continuum, such as recognizing and respecting the roles of other professionals and jointly planning and reviewing care interventions. An example is the difficulty of transferring the patient from the emergency department to the behavioral unit after being medically cleared. Psychiatric nurses often question the appropriateness of medical clearance for fear of accepting a patient with medical complications. Several instances have occurred where patients have been held for lengthy amounts of time due to the psychiatric nurse’s reluctance to admit patients. Unfortunately, the situation escalated in the past, resulting in the emergency department nurse consulting with supervisors to intervene.

Reflecting on the situation, interference from supervisory staff was unnecessary and harmful to interprofessional collaboration. If the situation were to reoccur, the emergency department nurse should use understandable terminology to thoroughly explain the patient’s medical clearance and stability for a safe transfer to the psychiatric facility. If patient transfer delays persistently occur, the emergency department nurse should communicate effectively to reiterate the shared purpose of providing effective and efficient patient-centered care.

References

Bsn, K. G., RN, & Bsn, K. G., RN. (2019, September 7). Importance of interprofessional collaboration, communication, and teambuilding. RN Journal. https://rn-journal.com/journal-of-nursing/importance-of-interprofessional-collaboration-communication-and-teambuilding

The importance of interprofessional collaboration in healthcare. (2023, September 11). Discover Nursing. https://nursing.jnj.com/getting-real-nursing-today/the-importance-of-interprofessional-collaboration-in-healthcareLinks to an external site.

Teaching and Learning about Interprofessional Collaboration Through Student. . .: @ Walden University Library. (n.d.). https://eds.p.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=0f7bee31-a8ca-40c6-9266-1ff5dd71199e%40redis

Sample Answer 9 for NURS 8002 Practice Intra- and Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Recently, at work, on a day we were working short, which is becoming our new standard due to it happening frequently, my coworker yelled to come into a patient’s room because I am the charge nurse, and she had an urgency to her voice. I rushed to the room and asked her what was wrong. She replied that her patient passed out briefly and came back alert and that he started moaning softly. The patient’s diagnosis is alcoholic cirrhosis, and he got paracenthesis the day prior. I immediately told her to get a set of vital signs, and I contacted the rapid response nurse and the patient’s primary care physician. The rapid response nurse came immediately and started helping us assess the patient. She inserted another intravenous line, drew blood cultures and lactate, and did other things that helped lessen our burden with what we might have to do for the patient. The patient’s vital signs were low but within normal limits. The patient’s oxygen saturation was 88% on room air. We put the patient on 3 liters of oxygen via a nasal cannula, and his oxygen went up to 94%. However, he looked very sick. The doctor, too, came within six minutes, and we made him aware of the situation. The patient did not look stable at all when you looked at him. I informed the doctor to consult the medical intensive care unit (MICU), and he said nothing. Within ten minutes later, the rapid response nurse told all of us that the patient’s lactate result was >6 with a venous blood gas. Lactate level shows the severity of a patient’s illness, and septic shock is likely with a serum lactate level >2 mmol/L (Christopher et al., 2021). The doctor was still staring at the patient while the primary nurse and rapid response nurses were still working on the patient to make him comfortable. I urged the doctor again to consult MICU and reminded him that the patient’s lactate was greater than six, and he replied, OK. Three MICU doctors came soon after, and I informed them that the patient passed out briefly and told them the patient’s lactate result. The MICU doctors evaluated the patient, and they and the primary care doctor went outside the patient’s room; I followed them out and saw them looking into the patient’s chart for history and trends in vitals and labs. The MICU doctors accepted the patient right away. The rapid response nurse, primary care nurse, primary care doctor, and I transferred the patient to MICU. Within three hours of moving the patient to MICU, we heard a code blue announced with the room number we just placed the patient in.

Strength and Weakness

Effective interprofessional collaboration (IPC) is vital in every healthcare structure (Ansa et al., 2020). The strength of everyone in my scenario is that we all worked well together and played our roles based on what we were already assigned when we came to work. We listened to each others’ concerns and did not dismiss anyone. Someone could have said that the patient was stable and we did not need to worry due to his stable vital signs. The only weakness I can see now is that the primary doctor did not alert MICU faster and only did so because I insisted that he consult MICU.

How own experiences mirror the viewpoints presented in the Henry et al. (2018) case study

One similarity between the Henry et al. (2018) case study design approach and my experience at work is that we were understaffed the day the patient had a change in his condition. The primary care doctor did not initially listen to my concern about consulting the MICU team. He only consulted them due to my urging him to contact them and reminding him of the patient’s lactate results. The doctors from the Henry et al. (2018) case study design doctors did not listen to the concerns of the nurses about the officer possibly having a head injury.

References:

Ansa, B. E., Zechariah, S., Gates, A. M., Johnson, S. W., Heboyan, V., & De Leo, G. (2020). Attitudes and behavior towards interprofessional collaboration among healthcare professionals in a large academic medical center. Healthcare, 8(3), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare8030323

Christopher M. Sauer, Josep Gómez, Manuel Ruiz Botella, David R. Ziehr, William M. Oldham, Giovana Gavidia, Alejandro Rodríguez, Paul Elbers, Armand Girbes, Maria Bodi, & Leo Anthony Celi. (2021). Understanding critically ill sepsis patients with normal serum lactate levels: results from U.S. and European ICU cohorts. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-99581-6

Henry, B., Male, B., Garner, C., & Guernon, A. (2018). Teaching and learning about interprofessional collaboration through student-designed case study and analysis. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 30(3), 560–570.