I participated in multiple interprofessional approaches in clinical as many cases require different nursing professionals, physicians, and assistants to work together, and the story below is an example. The patient was brought to the hospital after the metal beam that weighed more than 100 pounds fell on his left leg. The examiner stated that he had the left knee dislocation, popliteal artery, and veins transaction with thrombus at the left leg’s distal artery. The patient received a femoral-popliteal bypass with a great saphenous vein, four-compartment fasciotomy of the left lower leg by vascular surgery, and a lower-left extremity angiogram with three vessels off.
His left knee got a closed reduction, arthrotomy for lavage, external fixation, and left calf wound closure by orthopedic surgery. The patient can now perform basic moves and activities in the wheelchair, supporting his left lower extremity. The patient is still in the unit because of his willingness not to burden the family by requiring constant assistance. The interprofessional meeting I participated in was to decide if the patient could be moved to rehab instead of home. The team contained several medics, nurse practitioners, charge and primary nurses, physical and occupational therapists, case managers, nutritionists, social workers, and financial assistants.
My role was to observe and share crucial details about the patient’s history and treatment, if I remember some. The team evaluated multiple scenarios of the patient’s recovery, and each professional reported their expectations regarding the process. Then, the possibility to move the patient to medical rehab was checked by the case managers and social workers, while financial assistants discussed the insurance costs provided by the facility where the patient works. Various medical professionals were involved in these procedures: ortho and trauma medics, physicians, therapists, nursing practitioners, and assistants. The collaboration felt effective because of the interprofessional discussion approach, which considered various factors of the patient’s history and therapy, therefore helping to search for the optimal solution quickly.