Team Nursing as the Model for Delivery of Services
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Am nurse manager for a unit comprising of 30 beds that uses team nursing as the model for delivery of our services. We opted on the model because it has the advantages of providing high quality services and a great deal of ancillary staff at any given time. Another advantage is that the members are free to contribute their ideas and share their skills and experiences before any decision is arrived at. However, the model is characterized by the following disadvantages. Interference arises due to daily variations of the members regarding their assignments. At times, the leadership skills of our leaders may lack the expertise required to mobilize the members (Owners, n.d).
In my opinion, we can drop the team nursing in our unit and adopt Modular nursing as our model as the model enhances continuity of care and there is more commitment with RN in attending patients. Due to good proximity of the members, communication is better (Hoffart & Woods, 1996).
Among the factors that would influence me to change the model would be to see a better relationship among the staff, which would lead to more efficient decisions and consistency. Modular nursing would also bring on board all levels of staff in our unit. Our new model would be more centered on the patients, reflect our values and offer general support in our care delivery system.
Implementation of the new model would call for adjustment of the old model and divide the unit into smaller sections called modules where RN would be the team leader. A particular team of nurses would be given tasks in the same location, which would ensure close proximity (Buerhaus & Miller, 2013).
Consumers of healthcare assume that when the costs of care services are high the quality of the services is also proportionately high. The evidence on this is that patients prefer more test and treatments as long as they are provided with the data on cost. The greater interest by the patients is on the cost in getting the care. A real file scenario suggesting the effect of price on decisions regarding healthcare is the group of patients who are under the category of doughnut hole, which refers to lack of access of medical care coverage by the patient if he or she has exceeded a certain limit. Once the limit is exceeded the patients meet full cost on medication until they spend a certain amount (Owners, n.d).