Medical Care and Nurses

¶ … Collaboration It would probably make sense to a lot of people that nurses and physicians should work together to provide the highest level of medical care to their patients. However, it would seem that there are a lot of instances where this collaboration simply does not happen. The end result from this lack of communication and collaboration is that patients end up suffering injuries or even death. Given that, it would be useful and proper to figure out why this lack of communication or presence of miscommunication is happening.

This brief report will cover that and more. While nurses and physicians are surely making a good faith effort to avoid mistakes that kill or harm patients, it is obvious that at least some of these clinicians are not doing enough of the right thing or perhaps they are not doing the right thing to begin with. Literature Review It would seem that one of the major hurdles and barriers that exist with collaboration and teamwork in the medical field would be the patriarchal relationships that exist.

Indeed, many doctors are men and many nurses are women. This being the case seems to lead to some male doctors not working at a proper level of engagement with nurses and this leads to things not being discussed that should be and/or things should be discussed to a greater degree but this is not happening. Meaning, the male doctors feel that they are superior and "above" working with the nurses and this leads to miscommunications and lack of communications in general (Johnson & Kring, 2012).

General lack of "harmony" and proper collaboration would also seem to be an issue. Just as there seems to be a male/female rivalry or dynamic in many settings, there also seems to be an "us against them" mentality that prevents and precludes patients from getting the care that they deserve. There may be situations where the process of harmony and collaboration is not linear in nature.

However, this is not a bad thing in and of itself so long there is a proper "looping back" and covering all that needs to be covered. Further, this review must be done in a way that allows for all of the important information to come out so that the patient is fully and properly cared for.

There has been both primary and secondary research on this matter and the totality of that work is fairly unanimous that such a paradigm could and should exist so as to maximize patient outcomes (Glaser, 1998). Another barrier that commonly exists and that leads to problems is that the supervising nurses and physicians are not accessible or easy to find. Indeed, it is important for all levels of nurses and doctors to be in constant contact.

Even if it comes down to using a conference room or something else so that it is known for sure where to find the needed managers and personnel, then that is what should be done. Of course, an office or central station works as well. The solution that will work best for a given environment will obviously depend on the facets and traits of that situation. Regardless, another thing to do whenever it is possible and practical is to have the patients involved in the collaboration process.

There might be situations where having the patient present and/or within ear shot might not be a good thing. However, it is easy enough to depart and have the private discussions that must be made. Sometimes, getting some particulars and ground rules figured in advance is a good thing. Regardless, all of the personnel involved should be aligned in terms of what the path forward is, what the options are and what the situation is it truly exists (Fewster-Fuente, 2015).

A little more can and should be said about the "us versus them" dynamic that exists per the above. Whether it be a patriarchal view of things or whether it be an issue of rank, it is far too common for nurses to be treated as second-class citizens and otherwise unworthy by doctors and other people that are higher in the proverbial food chain.

While doctors and physicians obviously do things that nurses cannot do from a legality or ability perspective, nurses must not be cast aside or disregarded in terms of how important they are because of the real and significant role that they do play in the patient care situation. For example, when a patient is stable and recovering (or at least is thought to be), the nurses are the ones that will see them the majority of the time.

Sure, a doctor will probably check on the patient or at least their charts once a day or once a shift. However, that paperwork and the presence that is created to do that documentation is rendered by the nurses. Even if their jobs are technically of less responsibility in terms of what they do, this is only relevant some of the time and they are the ones doing the majority of the work in many situations. Nurses are the ones that report to nursing management and the doctors.

Nurses are the ones that keep an eye on a patient when the doctors are handling urgent matters. The presence of nurses in the chain of command and what they do is without question and they.