Question

iscuss the role and contributions to the health care team of ONE TYPE OF ADVANCE PRACTICE NURSE: NP – Nurse Practitioner; CRNA – Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist; CNM – Certified Nurse Midwife; CNS—Clinical Nurse Specialist; or NE—Nurse Educator

Answer 1

A healthcare team consists of healthcare professionals and caregivers who work together to provide efficient and effective patient care. The healthcare team works in collaboration with each other to achieve positive outcomes.

The healthcare team consists of doctors, physicians, specialists, nurses, caregivers and family members, technicians, radiologist and the patient himself. The patient is the most important part of healthcare team and the care provided by healthcare team members is always patient centred.

Nurse practitioner constitutes an integral part of the healthcare team and works with other team members to achieve high quality of care for patient and minimise the risks. The nurse practitioner assists other team members to assess, plan and implement the line of treatment best suited for patients. They also help in decision making by application of critical thinking. They also advocates for patients at many times. Some of the roles performed nurse practitioner are :

1. Help in assessment of the patient which is a key step in diagnosing the medical condition of patient.

2. Help doctors and other team members to reach a diagnosis through application of professional skill and knowledge.

3. Help plan out the line if treatment and take part in its implementation.

4. Help patient manage his daily activities as well as medicines.

5. Nurse practitioner also helps the doctors take competent, logical and ethically correct decisions in time if complex situations. They also help assess and mange the risk associated with the decisions made by team members.

6. In times of critical situations when the patient is unable to speak for himself or has little knowledge about his condition, the nurse practitioner advocates for the patient and protects his rights.

7. Nurse practitioner also takes up the role to educate patient and his family members about his medical condition, treatment and medications.

8. At times the nurse practitioner also exercises his leadership skills to lead the team in difficult situations and make evidence based and ethically right decisions which help achieve better outcomes and early patient recovery.