INTER-PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION

Inter-professional Education Can Provide Better Care

For The Patient/Service



Inter-professional Education Can Provide Better Care

For the Patient/Service

Section 1

In this section, I will be looking at how interprofessional education can provided better care for the patient/service user along with a more effective team, working along side each other to deliver better health care. Communication, ethics and stereotyping will be reviewed and compared to ineffective case studies and how they can be improved.

The baby P and Victora Climbe case reports were documents I felt should study. The communication between the inter agencies and the families were incredibly poor, inconsistent and with devastating conclusions, at the cost of innocent lives. The interagency need to promote a three way partnership of respect, honesty and openness between health care and the public, professionals and patient and service users and also professional to professionals (Kennedy, 2001, pp. 59-63). As a nurse I have been involved in multi disciplinary meetings (MDM). It was made very clear to me that all IP should attend if it concerns their patient/service user. If a member did not attend, the meeting was rescheduled until everyone could be present. In baby PHs case the General Practitioner did not attend because he was not invited, the paediatrician sent her apologies that she could not attend. A doctor from the Child Development Centre also sent apologies and did not attend. The meeting still went ahead. How can health care professionals make informed decisions when not all professions are present at a meeting? (Owens, 2007, pp. 101-115) identifies that communication is key to a successful IP working. Liaison and joint planning are essential in arranging the MDM and can only be achieved with all parties communicating and organizing them together as a team. Ethics and IPE keynote lecture identifies how it can lead to increase good collaboration which results in an improved service for patients, service users and carers (Fletcher, 2010, pp. 39-41).

The first question our group had was in regards to this and we concluded that, correct and accurate conveyance of information is essential to good quality of service user / patient centred care. Good ethical standards are also needed. Beauchamp and Childress (2001) formulated 4 ethical principles. Respect for autonomy and the decision making factors that enable inter-professionals to make informed choices. Benner (1982) gives five levels of proficiency that acquire decision making skills. Development of each stage will increase inter-professional (IP) proficiency. The levels include the novice or beginner, advanced beginner, competent, proficient and expert. When working with the IP team it is vital to be competent in the level the professional is at. Understanding of these decision making dynamics in the IP team allows everyone to become confident in making decisions within their levels of expertise and also allowing the other professionals to interject. Beneficence considers the benefits of treatment against the risks and professionals should act in the best interest of the patient. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (2008) expect all professionals to be personally accountable for their actions and ...