While we all like to think that our doctor is the biggest and the best, we need to recognize that s/he is merely one member of your health care team. Granted, your doctor is probably the most the most well-paid member, the most educated member, and the director of your team, but they do not work as an island unto themselves. They delegate many tasks related to your diagnosis and treatment to other members of your team.
Members of Your Health Care Team: Those other team members include: your bedside nurse (RN’s and LPN’s who happen to be the only team member at your bedside 24/7), nursing assistant, physical therapist, speech therapist, occupational therapist, social worker, discharge planning nurse, visiting nurse, dietitian, nutritionist, dietary aid, respiratory therapist, lab technician, hematologist, podiatrist, pathologist, dentist, surgeon, anesthesiologist, nurse anesthetist, pharmacy assistant, pharmacist, IV Nurse, Wound Care Nurse, Diabetic educator, Xray technologist, MRI/CT/Ultrasound technologist, radiologist, EKG technician, phlebotomist, security guard, housekeeping staff, and hospital chaplain…to name a few!
The Role of Your Health Care Team: Each member of your health care team works collaboratively with each other…and with you, the patient… to provide care that will result in the best possible outcome for you within the limits posed by your medical condition. Their collaboration assures that you have continuity of care. They make clinical rounds together. They read each other’s patient notes. They all share the same goal of helping you achieve the highest level of wellness and function possible given the restraints of your condition. They each have your best interests at heart.
TERMINOLOGY
Diagnosis: The nature of a disease; the identification of an illness.
Health Care Delivery System: full range of health care services available to health care consumers seeking prevention, diagnosis, treatment, or rehabilitation of health problems.
Health Care Team: specially trained personnel, including doctors & nurses, who collaboratively work together to help health care consumers meet their health care needs with the best possible outcome.
Prognosis: The expected course of a disease
Patient Perspectives on Nursing 1 ” – 7:54 minutes
” Patient Perspectives on Nursing 2 ” – 10:58 minutes
” Patient Perspectives on Nursing 3 ” – 14:17 minutes