My
topic is “team”, and this method of patient
care delivery is a good system, if implemented properly; however, one major
disadvantage arises if the team leader has poor leadership skills. The team
leader must be sensitive to the needs of the patient and at the same time,
attentive to the needs of the staff providing the direct care.
The
most likely nursing setting you would see this model of nursing would be in a
hospital setting where there is a staff mix of team members. It is also used
when there is nursing shortages, so other members of the team may step in to
help wash the patient and provide teaching to the patient for diabetes, for
example. Advantages of team nursing are that it allows the nurse to get
assistance from others in the medical care field, without being time
constrained, or pressured to do everything for the patient alone. The
disadvantages of this model are the inconsistent care that is provided by the
probable lack of communication between the various care givers in the patient’s
outcome.
The
nursing care system where I work uses functional nursing model. This functional
model is a method of providing patient care by
which each licensed and unlicensed staff member performs specific tasks for a
large group of patients. In my work setting this model seems to be
semi-effective. What I mean is that I may work with a Licensed Practical Nurse
(LPN), who may not be able to take or sign off doctor’s orders. She may not be
able to admit a patient and is not allowed to give IV medications. This leaves
the extra work for me to do. She does help take the four other patient’s other
tasks on, like passing pills and administering insulin and help answer call
lights and potty patients. This model differs from the team system model
because there is a team leader that then reports to the charge nurse about how
the patients and nurses are doing, and at times may help step in to help with
the care of the patients. Team nursing has enhanced communication “through the
use of written patient assignments, the development of nursing care plans, and
the use of regularly scheduled team conferences to discuss patient status and
formulate revisions to the plan of care”. In
functional nursing, there is not a team leader to report to or assist. The RN
becomes the lead for the LPN and takes on much of the functional tasks of
nursing in that model. In functional nursing, we all answer to the charge
nurse. The functional method disadvantage
may be fragmented care and ineffective communication can lead to patient and
family dissatisfaction and frustration .
I
am going to compare and contrast the method of functional nursing method with
the synergy model. The synergy model was developed by critical care nurses who
have a large hand in working with the patient and family and advocating for a
few numbers of patients in great depth during their entire stay. This model describes seven characteristics unique to every
patient. They are stability, complexity, predictability, vulnerability,
participation in decision-making and care, and resource availability. Patient care at it’s best when the characteristics of the patient and
the nurse’s competencies are united in a synergistic outcome for the patient. According
to an article published by the American Association of Critical Care Nurses,
there are eight competencies in the synergy model and all eight competencies
are essential for contemporary nursing practice, but each assumes more or less
importance depending on a patient's characteristics. Synergy results when the
needs and characteristics of a patient, clinical unit or system are matched
with a nurse's competencies. There are also nurse competencies that, tied into
the patient information and the specific situation, decide the patient’s plan
of care, for example, If the gestalt of a patient were vulnerable, unable to
participate in decision-making and care, and inadequate resource availability,
the primary competencies of the nurse would focus on advocacy and moral agency,
collaboration, and systems thinking. availability, the primary competencies of
the nurse would focus on advocacy and moral agency, collaboration, and systems
thinking. Functional nursing makes each person very efficient at
providing the patient a specific task. Using this method can get a lot done in
a short amount of time as well. In the synergistic method, time and dividing
tasks are not done because the nurse does everything for a smaller number of
patients. This is good to ensure stability and trust between the nurse and
patient. It also is effective because there is not as much need to constantly
communicate what has/not been done and the outcome the patient has over and
over again in the functional method. There are many cooks in the kitchen, so to
speak in the functional method, so the fragmented care can become frustrating
for the patient and the nurse and family too.
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