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Interdisciplinary committees spur collaboration to provide excellent care

HCPro's Weekly Update on the ANCC Magnet Recognition Program®*, August 22, 2006

Nursing works closely with many other disciplines and departments to provide excellent patient care. One example is the work of an interdisciplinary team related to a special population. Beverly Hancock, MS, RN, education/quality coordinator at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago says that in response to a rising number of bariatric patients admitted to the medical center and the unique challenges associated with their care, an interdisciplinary committee was formed to explore the care of the bariatric patient.

The team was led by a nurse manager and consisted of dieticians, engineers, pharmacists, physicians, nurses, and staff from purchasing. After researching the literature and calling other facilities, the team developed a critical pathway for care. The pathway was reviewed and approved by the surgical quality improvement committee, pharmacy and therapeutics committee, and the medical care evaluation committee, which are all interdisciplinary committees.

Hancock says the bariatric care team also led staff and patient evaluations of bariatric equipment, which was then purchased, and they developed a flow chart for use of the bariatric beds. They also created patient education material for the gastric bypass patients. Finally, they identified the need for and hired new assistive personnel, specifically trained to help with lifting to reduce the burden on the nursing staff. Hancock says the work of this team provided the nursing staff with needed equipment, information, and support to care for this challenging patient population.

Source: Adapted from HCPro's book HCPro's Guide to Assessing, Pursuing, and Achieving Excellence in the ANCC Magnet Recognition Program®. Click here for more information.

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