Role of Interdisciplinary Team Care Dynamics in Wound Management

Introduction

Interdisciplinary team (IDT) is a group of practitioners from different departments in a profession who join to work on a single mission in their profession. There are different personnel in the health profession, for example, nurses, doctors, nutritionist, physiologist and psychologist among many others. The different professionals in the IDT perform their distinct professional tasks which are in line with the overall planned result. The health professional’s agenda is for patients to get well; thus it is a responsibility of all the practitioners to contribute to the good health of the patient. The aim of this paper is to highlight the different roles of a healthcare professional in an IDT and to perform on the condition of Maria Borg.

Maria Borg is an old patient aged 92 years. She is diagnosed from pressure ulcers, which have formed on the left heel while also suffering from diabetes and osteoarthritis. She also has skin infection symptoms, such as itching and dry skin. The IDT team that offered to treat her comprised of physiotherapist, occupational therapist, speech language pathologist, consultant, incontinence nurse, tissue viability nurse, nutritionist and the nurse in the ward. These specialists worked to help treat Maria’s condition. She also suffers from osteoarthritis which is making her immobile. The physiotherapist in this case should help figure the best motion exercises to help work out her joints as well as the muscles. This makes ease her mobility and goes a long way to her recovery as it enhances her strength to change her positions.

The use of supportive tools to the patient such as walking sticks, use of pillows to sleep on and comfortable mattresses should be prioritized by the occupational therapist. He should educate Maria’s nurse on the best transfer methods of the patient as well as the handling of the patient. This helps to prevent the pain as well as reduce the probability of skin tear. In addition, he should help her with supportive tools to her heels to prevent the aggravation of the wound. Speech language therapist comes in to help diagnose and assess Maria’s swallowing problem and provide therapeutic measures to counter her degenerating condition. This is enabled to help Maria ease her swallowing problems (Stefanski & Smith, 2006).

The role of the nurse

Incontinent nurse helps Maria through prescribing the best methods to reduce her urinary incontinence and the effects it has on her. He may prescribe the use of napkins and periodic cleansing to minimize the effects of urinary incontinence. The tissue viability nurse has a significant role in the treatment of Marias wounds and skin. He prescribes the best treatment for the pressure ulcer on the leg and provides a clinical assessment on to give Maria the best treatment. The nutritionist helps formulate the best balanced diet for Maria. The diabetic condition of Maria should be well catered for through a balanced diet (Ousey, 2005).

The nurse has a role to take critical care for Maria in bringing her to recovery. She has to give her the prescription as specified by the other professionals. She takes the procedures of the physiotherapist to make improve her joint movements. She also has to implement the work of the speech therapy and check for the balance of diet in Maria’s food. The nurse should help with application of emollients to make Maria’s skin supple. She has to help reposition the patient in periodic durations to ease and prevent Maria from developing more ulcers. In addition, the nurse has to empathize with the patient and offer moral support to him/her. She has to provide Maria with comfortable condition for recovery, which may include the use of pressure relieving devices such as air mattresses, use of heel protectors and body repositioning (Stefanski & Smith, 2006).

Conclusion

The nurse is a very important element in recovery of pressure ulcer’s patients, as she is the one spending more time taking care of patients. Their roles are numerous and may not be fully defined, but they help tremendously in recovery of all patients.

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