Respond to this colleague who shared a different perspective than you did. Based on your personal and/or professional experiences, expand on your colleagues’ postings by providing additional insights or contrasting perspectives.
Respond to this write-up below :
Interprofessional practice is a concept that is integrated throughout all aspects of healthcare. Advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) depend on collaborative interprofessional practice to support improved patient outcomes. Positive collaborative provider relationships have shown to improve the cost and quality of patient care, and increases patient satisfaction (Hamric & Hanson, Tracy, & O’Grady, 2014). Many APRNs are required to have a collaborating or supervising physician in order to practice and are not allowed to practice independently, which makes interprofessional practice especially crucial (Buppert, 2018).
American Association of Nurse Practitioners Position on Interprofessional Practice
The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) is a national organization and certifying body for APRNs. The AANP released a position statement in 2013 supporting the implementation of team-based care and interprofessional collaboration (American Association of Nurse Practitioners [AANP], 2013). AANP’s view of collaborative practice includes communication and a systematic approach to health care delivery with many members of the health care team, including APRNs and physicians (AANP, 2013). The AANPs model of team-based care focuses on the patient, healthcare teams that include the patient, and healthcare teams that are dynamic and support the needs of the patient (AANP, 2013). The AANP believes that the APRN may fulfill many roles in the team-based approach to patient care, including but not limited to: advocate, clinician, educator, leader, and partner (AANP, 2013).
Collaborative Approach to Manage Care
Collaborative care requires open communication and respect at all times for the relationship to work, and maintain high levels of patient care. The purpose of team-based care is to provide high-quality patient centered care (AANP, 2013). If I was the nurse practitioners in this scenario there are many things I would consider prior to changing medications. If this was my first time every seeing this patient and managing her care, I would not be likely to change her medications that were prescribed by the internal medicine physician unless there was an acute change in her status. This patient has multiple chronic medical issues which is why she is being treated by an internist who is trained to manage these conditions more thoroughly. Instead of changing her medications I would have the patient follow up with the internal medicine physician whenever she is back in clinic. Another option would be to consult internal medicine physician within the clinic or another nurse practitioner to review the patient’s case together and determine if changing her medications is necessary at this time. Instead of the physician telling the patient she has not satisfied with the care she received, she could have taken the opportunity to speak to the APRN regarding the change in the patient’s care plan. A positive collaborative relationship is one that includes joint reviews regarding a plan of care, and is considered a standard of care for NPs (Buppert, 2017). Another standard of care for NPs includes recognizing one’s limitations of knowledge and training, and recognizing when to consult with other members of the health care team, and when to refer patients as needed (Buppert, 2017).
References
American Association of Nurse Practitioners [AANP]. (2013). Nurse Practitioners and team-based care. Retrieved from https://www.aanp.org/advocacy/advocacy-resource/position-statements/nurse-practitioners-and-team-based-care
Buppert, C. (2018). Nurse practitioner’s business practice and legal guide (6th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning
Hamric, A. B., & Hanson, C. M., Tracy, M. F., & O’Grady, E. T. (2014). Collaboration. In advanced practice nursing: An integrative approach (5th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Saunders