Referrals, Consultations & Collaboration in Nursing Care

Consultations are often very important in team management when it comes to the proper care of your patient. A consultation is often the request for information from someone who specializes in a certain field of knowledge. When a medical professional seeks out a consultation they are essential asking for help in solving a problem or meeting the needs of their client. Example of a consultation would be a physician asking for help from a cardiologist for a patient with a recent heart problem.

As a nurse your interventions in consultations will be: Intuiting necessary consults of your client's needs, providing all the consults the necessary information about the problem and incorporating any recommendations into your clients care plan.

Referrals are a request for assistance from someone who specializes in a certain field of knowledge. A referral is often a request for intervention from another professional who has the needed skills for the problem at hand. The intervention of the specialist becomes that specialist's responsibility, but the nurse will still continue to be responsible for monitor the patient's response and progress to the treatment. A referral example would be home health, social service needs or possibly a dietician.

Discharge referrals are based on the client's needs in relationship to their actual or potential problems. As a nurse your interventions to discharge referrals would be; Initiate any discharge plans on admission, evaluate family or client competencies and involve the client and family in all care planning. The nurse will support the client and their family with suitable consultations and referrals to any contacts they may need in the community. Example of discharge referral would be outpatient physical therapy.

Collaboration with the interdisciplinary team is a used to help make health care decisions about the client. The interdisciplinary team is a group of health care professionals from different areas of the hospital that work together to provide the best care for their clients' needs.

There are three key elements in collaboration which include; effective communication, shared decision making and mutual respect and trust. As a nurse your interventions would include participating in client's rounds with the doctor and being involved in the interdisciplinary team meetings and attending any interdisciplinary clinical conferences.

As you can tell a nurses job duties do not just include the basic care of a patient or client they go beyond the normal duties of caring for the sick but providing care for the overall well being of a person.