Throughout this semester I had the opportunity to shadow at two facilities: Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital and Nazareth Senior Living Center. Ranken Jordan serves children of all ages. They are a facility that offers care between the hospital and the transition home. Nazareth is a older adult care facility that offers short term and long term care. The facilities both offered a unique experience that allowed me to further understand and explore the constructs of interprofessional education, through meetings with a care provider, patient, and a team meeting.
Provider- clear roles At the first facility, Ranken Jordan, I shadowed an occupational therapist. The occupational therapist worked with the patients during the entire duration of their stay. They worked with the patients in the facility on tasks such as hand dexterity, balance, and additional fine motor skills. In addition, the occupational therapist worked directly with the family on transitioning out of the hospital. They completed home evaluations and ordered supplies for the family. The occupational therapist played a significant and direct role in the care of the patient. This role compared with the occupational…show more content… At Nazareth the care team meetings were not frequent and did not involve many professions. At their meetings they had five professions present, whereas Ranken Jordan had upwards of eight professions. Furthermore, the meetings were stagnant and did not promote an open dialogue. The lack conversation would in turn impact patient care, by not thoroughly understanding the entire care plan and accountability for each profession. In previous courses we have learned that lack of communication significantly decreases patient outcomes. Therefore, in my future practice I will try to conduct weekly meetings with the entire staff, and frequent smaller meetings amongst the professions I interact with most
