Team and Coalition Building Assessment

Team building is a very serious question especially when it goes about team for some medical institutions.  It is question of a certain importance at it directly deals with human life and people working there do not have a right for a fault.

Hospice care is highly spread in the whole world. Usually it is family oriented and there are working minimum team usually including counselors, doctors, home health aides, nurses, social workers, chaplains and specially trained volunteers. While co-operating the team is focused of the needs and necessity of a dying person. And the main goal will be to make the rest of life of incurable people painless and surrounded by beloved people.

In my personal team building I would like to use experience of already working hospices and make an accent of their strong parts and recommendation: “The team usually consists of:

  • Medical Director;
  • Home health aides;
  • Licensed Practical Nurses/Certified Nursing Assistants;
  • Nurses;
  • Social workers;
  • The person’s Trained volunteers;
  • Bereavement Counseling Team.
  • Physical Therapists
  • Occupational Therapists
  • Dietician
  • Personal physician may also be included (HHU, 2009, NHPCO, 2009).

The general amount of people working in a small hospice (I was suggested to complete team building for 9 patients) it is nearly 25 people at all including social workers and volunteers.

It is considered that the patient’s primary doctor role is quirt an important thing and it should be defined at once the patient start using hospice care. It is a typical case when patients decide to get their personal physician involved in the process of hospice care: “Both the physician and the hospice medical director may work together to coordinate the person’s medical care, especially when symptoms are difficult to manage. Regardless, a physicial’s involvement is important to ensure quality hospice care. The hospice medical director is also available to answer questions the person or loved ones may have regarding hospice medical care” (NHPCO, 2009)

It would be very hard to define how many people needed in a certain category, I think that that will depend from hospice functional area ”“ will it be for cancer ill people of AIDS ill people of something other. Anyway the majority of specialists (I do not take into account particular physicians as dietician) but mainly nurses and volunteers as they will be the major part of the staff should be interchangeable. That will be very important as working in the hospice is always a great stress and people should be psychologically ready to such difficulties. The treatment of incurable patients’ needs strong self control and organizational skills as you got to co-operate not only with the team of professionals but also with relatives and beloved people of the patient.

Another important question is co-operation with relatives and dear people of the patients. It often happens that family and friends are among those who eager to give primary care themselves. It will be necessary to come into agreement and try to create a strong supportive team with the relatives of the patient. Create together some kind of the strategy of that how to support the patient and the members of the family. It is one of the most difficult problems and the help of the bereavement Counseling Teams are working in the Hospice as it is an important part of care in hospice. Their aims are:

-       “Help prepare the family for managing their loss before the death and follow their adjustment for up to thirteen months afterward.

-       Provide information to families and community groups on the grief process, coordinate grief support groups, provide individual grief counseling, and make referrals as needed” (HHU, 2008).

I think that hospices are served by team of excellent professionals and it will be not an easy task to provide excellent service for the patient.

But using the experience of other hospices will help in realization the aim.



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