lesson 5

Patient care models in the facility in which I work are as follows.  We have many different members of the team in the emergency department. Due to the high patient loads we have assigned specific areas for teams for a particular shift.  There is always one Health unit  coordinator working who is responsible for coordinating the care of all the patients within the ED. The Health unit coordinators put in all the orders for the patients, keeps track of labs and radiographic studies and if  they have been completed.  They also are a direct assistant to the physicians in ways such as contacting consulting physicians, chart organization, answering all phones, and any other tasks that may be within their scope of practice.  We also have critical care techs in the emergency department in which I work.  The Techs are responsible for starting I.V's, drawing labs, assisting with getting vital signs, assisting the patients to the bathroom etc.   Techs are so instrumental in the flow of the emergency department.  Without the techs, the nurses would never be able to keep their heads above water.  We usually have 5 nurses on during the busy hours of the day and between 2-3 techs.  We have the staff members separated out into teams in order to prevent errors by having too many patients asssigned per tech/nurse etc...  The nurses are of course important as they are responsible for the primary care of each patient. In the Emergency department in which I work there is anywhere from 3-5 nurses on at one time.  Each nurse can have up to 5 patients to care for which can be very overwhelming in an acute care setting.  Nurses are responsible of assessing, medicating, reassesing, performing specific interventions required to that specific patients care.  Overall the nurses job is large and requires the help of the techs and the health unit coordinators.  When we all work as a team, the flow of the ED is smooth and patients get seen in a timely and effective manner.  When there is a flaw in the team aspect, the flow seems to crumble under the pressure.  IT is so important for us all to work as a team to care for our patients in the best way possible.