Callo, Dimple C.

BSN III-A

Case Scenario 3

A. WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE AND WHO SHOULD BE INVOLVED IN

DEVELOPING A CARE PLAN FOR THE PATIENT?

A patient with mental illness may require nurses to adopt the following strategy:

 Assess a patient’s mental state.

 Establish good communication with the patient.
 Build a relationship with the patient.
 Use language that shows consideration.
 Provide sensitive patient-centered care.
 Consult with knowledgeable mental health professionals.
 Refer a patient to community services.

A mild mental illness with well-controlled symptoms, treatment from your primary care
provider may be sufficient.

B. AS A MEMBER OF THE INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAM, DESCRIBE YOUR ROLE

AND WHAT YOU CAN BRING TO THE TEAM?

 Psychiatric nurses admit or discharge patients, monitor patients being detained for psychiatric
hospitalization for safety, perform high-risk assessments, manage medications, and groom and
bathe patients.
 Psychiatric nurses facilitate social and emotional needs, provide crisis intervention and treatment,
and administer cognitive-behavioral therapy.
 Psychiatric nurses assess patient’s mental and physical health, develop treatment plans, consult
with psychiatrists and other health professionals, and manage medications.
 Psychiatric nurses work double duty in this clinical nursing specialty to provide physical and
mental health care. Psychiatric nurses work in a community capacity to deliver mental health
services, others help individuals one-on-one to accomplish daily tasks and improve their lives.
 Nurses engaged in this profession help develop a treatment plan and use their therapeutic skills to
offer a range of options to patients and their families.

C. WHAT CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES DO YOU THINK MAY EXIST

FOR YOU IN THE TEAM?

Interdisciplinary teams face many unique challenges which they must address in order
to be successful. For example, since communication between disciplines can be difficult, an
interdisciplinary team must set aside time to learn how to speak to one another without
confusion. They also must ensure that they are able to meet in person, and must set aside time
in order to do so. This becomes more difficult the further apart the collaborating team is from
one another.

Also, an interdisciplinary team must give experts from every discipline an equal
amount of respect. Unfortunately, many people have assumptions about other disciplines,
which can damage interdisciplinary collaborations. The power balance in an interdisciplinary
team will reflect the power structure of the outside world, unless the team intentionally
identifies these imbalances and structures the team so that every discipline has equal status.
This is important to ensure that each member’s knowledge, experience and understanding is
being represented in the team’s work. Sometimes those are complementary, but sometimes
they are conflicting. The team must learn to value diversity, remain cohesive when viewpoints
conflict, and negotiate agreement to which all team members are committed.

D. WHAT CONSIDERATIONS NEED TO BE MADE TO ENSURE THE SUCCESS OF

THE TEAM IN PROVIDING BEST PRACTICE?

1. Positive leadership and management attributes - Having a clear leader of the team, with
clear direction and management; democratic; shared power; support/supervision; personal
development aligned with line management; leader who acts and listens.
2. Communication strategies and structures - Individuals with communication skills;
ensuring that there are appropriate systems to promote communication within the team.
3. Personal rewards, training and development - Learning; training and development;
training and career development opportunities; incorporates individual rewards and
opportunity, morale and motivation.
4. Appropriate resources and procedures - Structures (for example, team meetings,
organizational factors, team members working from the same location). Ensuring that
appropriate procedures are in place to uphold the vision of the service (for example,
communication systems, appropriate referral criteria and so on).
5. Appropriate skill mix - Sufficient/appropriate skills, competencies, practitioner mix,
balance of personalities; ability to make the most of other team members' backgrounds;
having a full complement of staff, timely replacement/cover for empty or absent posts.
6. Supportive team climate - Team culture of trust, valuing contributions, nurturing
consensus; need to create an interprofessional atmosphere.
7. Individual characteristics that support interdisciplinary team work - Knowledge,
experience, initiative, knowing strengths and weaknesses, listening skills, reflexive practice;
desire to work on the same goals.
8. Clarity of vision - Having a clear set of values that drive the direction of the service and the
care provided. Portraying a uniform and consistent external image.
9. Quality and outcomes of care - Patient-centered focus, outcomes and satisfaction,
encouraging feedback, capturing and recording evidence of the effectiveness of care and
using that as part of a feedback cycle to improve care.
10. Respecting and understanding roles - Sharing power, joint working, autonomy.