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Website spotlight: Nurses key to care coordination

Nurse Leader Weekly, January 23, 2012

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It seems each new study that examines a particular facet of nursing also reinforces the notion that nurses are the backbone of healthcare delivery in the United States.

Nurses play the leading role in delivering and coordinating care for patients, safeguarding them against medical errors, and acting as the patients' advocate at a time when patients are struggling with anxiety, fear, pain, and confusion.

The role of nurse advocate and care coordinator will only grow in coming years as the practice of medicine gets more complex, and the medical care team approach becomes more entrenched. One could argue that experienced and well-trained nurses at the bedside are as big a factor in determining healthy patient outcomes as any other component in healthcare delivery. Someone will have to lead the care team, and nurses are the obvious choice.

The common sense findings in a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation study this month underscore the importance of nurses' critical thinking skills as the key component in reducing errors and improving outcomes. The study details 10 clinical reasoning practices and processes that 50 nurses at 10 hospitals have identified to prevent medication errors.

They are:

• Educating patients about their medication;
• Considering all factors related to the patient; 
• Advocating for patients with the pharmacy;
• Coordinating care with physicians;
• Independently reconciling medications with patients' records;
• Verifying medications and doses with colleagues;
• Coping with interruptions and distractions;
• Interpreting physicians' orders;
• Documenting near misses;
• Communicating openly with physicians, pharmacists and other team members.

To read about the rest of this free article, click here.

Editor’s note: To read more articles like this, visit the Reading Room, part of www.StrategiesForNurseManagers.com.

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