Involving Nurses Decision Making Assignment Help.
Instructions: Nurses are generally seen as having much less authority than doctors in the decision-making process related to patient care. Discuss the challenges and provide solutions for nurses to be accepted as equal partners in an inter-professional team.
Solution.
Involving nurses in decision making.
Introduction
The professional nurse serves the practitioner role, a leadership and a research role in order to ensure the effective delivery of patient care. All the roles focus on the assurance of quality, safe, and efficient care services. The practitioner role involves taking actions and assuming responsibilities to meet the nursing and health care needs of patients, their families, friends, and significant others. Whether in primary, secondary, or tertiary healthcare settings, community or homecare nursing, nurses focus on the accomplishment of their roles and specific responsibilities for the improvement and protection of the health and wellbeing of the patients. Nurses achieve this through teaching and collaboration. Additionally, they serve leadership and research roles which involve relating, influencing, facilitating, decision making, and research. These ensure the achievement of patient care goals and the improvement in the quality of care (Gurbutt, 2012). Despite the important roles they play, nurses are constantly seen as possessing less authority as compared to doctors in making patient-care related decisions. This essay outlines the issue, discusses the challenges and provides solutions for the improvement of the perception to accept nurses as equal partners in inter-professional teams.
Involving Nurses in Decision making Related to Patient Care
According to Gurbutt (2012), nurses have a legally defined occupational role that is organizationally bounded. The movement of a nurse into an autonomous decision making is both occupational and professional. Nurses plays a critical role in the promotion of health care and the protection of the wellbeing of patients and the society. They play a critical role in the delivery of patient care through different processes and responsibilities and thus must be involved in decision-making concerning patients. However, according to Gurbutt (2012) and Henry, Kendrick, and Soothill (2013), nurses are often viewed as having less authority than doctors in the process. As such, they are often left out in the processes of decision-making related to patient care. Further, existing perception about nursing being a lesser profession makes poses a significant hindrance in involving nurses in the decision-making. According to Henry, Kendrick, and Soothill (2013), there various patients and clinicians perceive nursing as a lesser career and thus find it difficult to involve nurses in decision-making related to patient care.
That doctors have the ultimate authority in the determination of the treatment a patient should receive makes them wield greater authority than nurses. This advances the perception that doctors have greater authority in making treatment and other key decisions related to patient care as compared to nurses. The result is that nurses are often left out or consulted minimally despite their great contribution in patient care. According to Campos, Catarina, and Nascimento (2009) and Henry, Kendrick, and Soothill (2013), the power doctors have does not stop at the determination of the how a patient should be treated but spreads into the different processes. The concern continues to set nurses as lesser team members, which influences the process of care delivery significantly. The participation of nurses in the process of decision making would serve a significant role in the promotion of health and the improvement of quality and safety in care (Boot, 2016). As such, health care institutions should focus on the implementation of measures that encourage the involvement of nurses in making decisions concerning patient care (Henry, Kendrick, & Soothill, 2013).
The participation of nurses in patient-care-related decision making is essential for the improvement of efficiency in services delivery and thus the improvement of quality and safety of care (Papastavrou, Efstathiou, & Andreou, 2016). Nurses interact constantly with patients and have an in-depth understanding concerning their health and concerns. Additionally, the constant communication between them makes nurses critical in decision-making. As such, inter-professional teams should involve nurses directly in the processes of making decisions concerning patient care. The delivery of care requires that nurses have sufficient information in order to offer efficient and sufficient specialized care and support. According to Campos, Catarina, and Nascimento (2009), the nurses require sufficient information and involvement in all the processes of patient care from decision making to the implementation phases in order to assist patients manage their conditions and live healthy and fulfilling lives. Considering the roles they play, it is vital that nurse leaders and doctors and other essential members of the inter-professional team allow the full participation of nurses in decision-making concerning patient care (Elwyn, Frosch, & Thomson, 2012).
The involvement of all members of the inter-professional team requires effective communication, which guarantees efficient decision-making. According to Campos, Catarina, and Nascimento (2009), communication allows the transmission of information and its interpretation for the development of efficient measures of dealing with patients. Nurses’ communication with the patients forms the basis of their roles. The ability of nurses to communicate effectively is empowering and enhances the delivery of care services (Maten-Speksnijder, Pool, Grypdonck, Meurs, & Staa, 2015). However, such communication would be difficult without the effective communication of the inter-professional teams and participation of nurses in decision-making. Therefore, there is a need for giving nurses the authority to participate and contribute in decisions concerning patient care. Doctors, nurse leaders, supervisors, and other members of the team must communicate effectively to allow and give nurses the chance to participate in decision-making for the improvement of patient care and safety (Millad, Hallett, & Luker, 2006). The existence of inefficient communication in an institution limits the patients’ choices and makes it difficult to accomplish care goals and outcomes (Campos, Catarina, & Nascimento, 2009).
Further, the enhancement of inter-professional collaboration and the promotion of positive perception of the profession are essential for the improvement of participation of nurses in patient-care-related decision-making. According to Campos, Catarina, and Nascimento (2009), collaboration ensures that all members of the inter-professional team work effectively towards a common patient goal. The processes therein include gathering and sharing information, reviewing patient goals, making decisions, and the discussion of care options and the evaluation of the intervention measures (MacLellan, Higgins, & Levett-Jones, 2015). These processes demand the participation of all team members and thus ensure the involvement of all the members in key processes such as decision-making. Moreover, creating awareness on the importance of involving nurses is essential for the improvement of perceptions held by patients and other team members from different professions (McCaughan, 2007).
Conclusion
Nurses continue to be seen as having less authority in making
decisions concerning patient care as compared to doctors, despite increasing
awareness of the importance of involving nurses in the process. The involvement
of nurses in decision-making related to patient care is critical for the
enhancement of the quality of health care services, the assurance of the safety
of the patients, and the promotion of health. Nurses play essential roles as
practitioners, leaders, and researchers. They focus on ensuring the provision
of quality health care. However, key challenges such as the perception of
nursing as a lesser profession and the authority given to doctors continue to
make it difficult to fully involve nurses in the decision-making. There is a
need for inter-professional teams to understand the crucial roles nurses play
in the delivery of care and their uttermost importance in helping patients make
decisions. The teams can improve or involve nurses by enhancing inter-professional
communication and collaboration, improving training, and alleviating the
perceptions patients and team members have concerning nursing.
References
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Gurbutt, R. (2012). Nurses’ clinical decision making. Oxford: Radcliffe.
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Maten-Speksnijder, A., Pool, A., Grypdonck, M., Meurs, P., & Staa, A. (2015). Driven by Ambitions: The Nurse Practitioner’s Role Transition in Dutch Hospital Care. Journal of Nursing Scholarship 47 (6), 544.
McCaughan, D. (2007). Community nurse behaviours related to patient involvement in decision making varied on a continuum of non-involving to involving. Evidence Based Nursing, 10 (1), 30.
Millad, L., Hallett, C., & Luker, K. (2006). Nurse-patient interaction and decision-making in care: patient involvement in community nursing. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 142-150.
Papastavrou, E., Efstathiou, G., & Andreou, C. (2016). Nursing students’ perceptions of patient dignity. Nursing Ethics, 23 (1), 92-103.