Ireland is among the nations that have a rapidly growing aging population as people live longer today. While walking down the streets in main cities of the country one can easily notice more elderly people in comparison with previous times. When the number of older people increases in an area, it brings challenges to the nursing homes, as there is a rise in demand for quality care. Working in nursing homes has its opportunities and challenges; therefore, the paper will cover the multidisciplinary teams’ working scenario, their interaction and diversity, communication in client care, and support accorded to clients considering their family, culture, and diversity.
Events and Interactions with Members of the Multidisciplinary Team
A multidisciplinary team (MDT) comprises a group of health care personnel belonging to different disciplines such as psychiatric nurses, social workers, psychiatrists, and occupational therapists, among many others. Each team member provides particular services to the patient, and they independently intervene in numerous issues a client may have (Health Service Executive, 2020). The team’s actions are usually brought together using a care plan that coordinates services accorded to nursing home residents. In some instances, a patient has a key worker who manages all their needs and contacts.
Professionals from multidisciplinary teamwork in different areas of expertise combine their knowledge sets necessary to confront challenging and complex conditions. This team frequently meets to deliberate their work, so each patient has a befitting care plan according to their requirements. Some of the duties and roles performed by MDT include:
- A social worker who offers support to patients by providing talking therapies
- A psychiatrist who prescribes medication and examines physical illness
- Psychiatric Nurse (PMHN), who administers drugs, monitors medication and examines challenges.
- An occupational therapist whose main task is to formulate rehabilitation plans both for group or individual patients.
Review of the Interaction in Respecting Diversity and Individuality of Coworkers
Workplace diversity has become increasingly essential in the Ireland health care settings. As the nursing and other health workforce and demographics change, it is significant for the nursing home administrators to influence and understand personnel with multiple values. Globalization provides more cultural diversity between clients and staff in aged care settings, with a substantial number being born overseas. It is not only the nursing home residents who outline multiculturalism but even their employees due to inward and outward doctors and nurses migration (Wals, Matthews and Brugh, 2018). The experience calls for tolerance among different cultures.
Linguistic and cultural interaction between residents and home employees are viewed as enabling the building of relationships and a favorable working environment. Increased diversity in the nursing home workers has some implications for the facilities managers concerning managing the diversity and harnessing its opportunities. Furthermore, divergent employees may act differently as a result of their cultural beliefs.
Arising Conflicts and Challenges
Cultural, demographics, education, language, generation differences, race, and gender increase challenges and conflicts within nursing home teams. Some conflicts occur due to decreased job satisfaction and burnout among staff, which leads to misinterpretations, and misunderstanding linked to generational and cultural variances. In performing daily duties in a nursing home, people with different professional and personal backgrounds will mostly have diverse opinions on best care functioning. Misunderstanding, particularly in busy health, will always occur, adding stress inherent between professionals in their working stations (Trusted, 2019). In some instances, issues will just arise, while in other moments, it results from accumulated tensions.
Since disharmony and conflicts are not inevitable in the working place, the best strategies to de-escalate and deal with conflict situations include: being respectful to the coworkers and residents in the facility, staying in one’s lane whereby the main role is helping clients, and honoring other people’s decision, being approachable and friendly to build relationships with clients and other team members, communicating openly, and assuming the best from coworkers.
Importance of Communication in Client Care
In most nursing homes, clients suffer from complicated conditions, including dementia, which makes proper communication in advance care planning (ACP) important. The key purpose of effecting ACP intervention and communication among facility workers, family, and patients is to allow the facility’s smooth running (Aasmul et al., 2018). A facility with robust communication strategies enriches their client’s health and ensures the workflow and deliberations are smooth.
Health care institutions and personnel have a duty of revamping their communication policies for the best patient outcome. It is noteworthy that poor communication is responsible for several patients’ morbidity and mortality as important interventions are not communicated. Furthermore, malpractice resulting from ineffective communication costs billions of Euros in Ireland, which is detrimental for facilities, patients, and employees. The main focus of adequate communication in a nursing home is to improve patient safety; therefore, effective communication channels are paramount.
Supporting the Client Needs by Considering their Cultural, Family, and Individual Aspects
The number of culturally and ethnically diverse groups in Ireland is growing, and each has different cultural traits. Moreover, some ethnic groups show some unique health problems specific to them. From triage to discharge, health workers spend considerable time with a client, which calls for cultural competencies in the care. Courts in Ireland have recognized advance healthcare directives, thereby establishing that an individual with capacity has a constitutional right to refuse treatment (NMBI, 2021). As a worker in a nursing home, one needs to:
- Respect every individual as a unique person
- The dignity of every phase in life should be maintained and respected
- Support clients who are in end-of-life care to dying in dignity while taking into account the family cultural values and norms
- There should be promotion and protection of the patient’s autonomy: respecting their choices, beliefs, priorities, and values
- The decisions to decline treatment or care should open up further debate and be appreciated in contexts of an individual’s capacity.
Reflection on Professional and Personal Performance, Strengths, and Weaknesses
On the professional front, there is a need of possessing all the necessary education and skills needed to work as a social worker in a nursing home. Moreover, having a good communication skills and the capability to embrace people of all ages, gender, race, and ethnic group is essential. My strengths include being flexible while working in a dynamic organization and am a team player. On the other hand, my weakness is that I have too much compassion and empathy while assisting aged people nearing their end-of-life, to the extent of breaking down due to their plight. Working in a nursing home is also fulfilling, as it offers an opportunity to serve communities, especially the most vulnerable in society. When treated in dignity, order people feel respected, and they cooperate better.
Reference list
Aasmul, et al. (2018). ‘Advance care planning in nursing homes – improving the communication among patient, family, and staff: Results from a cluster randomized controlled trial (COSMOS)’. Frontiers in Psychology, 9.
Health Service Executive (HSE), 2020. Multi-disciplinary team – HSE.ie. [online] HSE.ie. Web.
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI).NMBI, 2021. NMBI – The Code – Principle 1: Respect & dignity. [online] Nmbi.ie. Web.
Trusted, 2019. Conflict in Nursing: types, strategies, and resolutions – Trusted Health. [online] Trustedhealth.com. Web.
Wals, A., Matthews, A. and Brugh, R., 2018. From brain drain to brain gain: Ireland’s nursing and midwifery workforce. [online] Healthworkforceireland.com. Web.