Interprofessional Collaboration in Health Care – Bing images

Watching the panel opened my eyes to various interprofessional interactions while working out in the field, but my biggest take away from the panel is how nurses are front in interacting with all health care professions in order to execute a care plan. Elliott Ballentine is a Physical Therapist at Maine medical, and he discussed how coordinating his day involves nurses as he bases when he sees his patients based on their availability. Patients can be getting a procedure done, an ultrasound or down for an MRI, therefore he must work with the nurses to coordinate the patients care plan. Elliott also discussed how physical therapist are present during rounds for patients, the professions can interact with each other and the patient ensuring everyone on the health care team is consistent with the care plan. Chelsea Wampole is also a health care worker from Maine medical, she is a decentralized clinical pharmacist who works actively on the units. She talked about a pharmacist’s education which entails three years of undergraduate and four years of pharmacy school. She also not only touched on the topic of medication prices but how nurse’s and pharmacist work together. Chelsea stated how nurses often ask her questions about administration or medication compatibility. She also mentioned how she works closely with nurses in managing the patient’s pain. During rounds pharmacist are also present at times she stated, and they often collaborate with the health care team by recommending medication changes. Chelsea spoke about making at home medication list with patients and choosing appropriate medications considering prices, especially during COVID. This is a significant challenge, if the patient is not able to afford his/her medication they cannot properly treat their diagnosis. This panel taught me about interprofessional duties, challenges, and education. A pharmacist spoke and emphasized how closely she works with nurses, a physical therapist spoke and touched on collaborating with nurses. Professions work as a team to provide optimal care to patients with the end goal of getting them home. The patients care plan would not be able to be executed without interprofessional communication.