Healthcare has many facets, from nurses to pharmacists and everything in between. And hospitals are only able to run smoothly with the right interprofessional team. Let’s go over the complete healthcare team to better understand each of their roles.
Nurses
Let’s start with nurses, as that’s probably why most of you are following this page. You’ve probably heard before that nurses are the backbone of healthcare, so let’s take a closer look at the various types of nursing and what each of them can do.
Registered Nurse, aka RN
The RN is the leader of nurses. These nurses have earned their associates or bachelor’s degree and passed the NCLEX-RN. Their role is to assess each of their patients, create nursing diagnoses, set goals for their patients, and come up with the correct interventions to achieve those goals. The RN integrates the entire interprofessional care team into the plan of care. Registered nurses can also perform more skills than other nursing roles.
Practical Nurse, aka PN
The PN comes next on the nursing hierarchy. These nurses have attended community college or vocational school to obtain their LVN/LPN title (Licensed Vocational Nurse/Licensed Practical Nurse). Practical nurses must work under the supervision of a registered nurse. Their role is to collaborate with the RN when developing patient centered care. PN’s typically have more technical knowledge and assist in delivering nursing care.
Assistive Personnel, aka AP
Assistive personnel include our CNAs (Certified Nursing Assistants), CMAs (Certified Medical Assistants), dialysis technicians, cardiac monitor technicians, and phlebotomists. For most AP roles, there is a specific training and exam to meet the states requirements. APs work under RNs or PNs and complete specific tasks. Such as a cardiac monitor technician who reads all the rhythm strips for each patient and gives them to the nurses to be charted on.
Advanced Nursing Roles
In addition to being a RN, some nurses choose to advance their education level with advanced education, special certifications, and/or a master’s degree. These nurses are known as Advanced Practice Nurses, aka APNs, and can fall into any of the following categories.
- Clinical Nurse Specialist, aka CNS
- Nurse Practitioner, aka NP
- Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, aka CRNA
- Certified Nurse Midwife, aka CNM
- Nurse Educator
- Nurse Researcher
Non-Nursing Roles
Even though nurses might be the backbone, the system just wouldn’t work without the full team. The following are all the non-nursing personnel vital to the hospital healthcare system.
Provider
There are many different forms of providers in the hospital setting, including MDs (Medical Doctors), DOs (Doctors of Osteopathy), APNs (Advanced Practice Nurses including NPs, aka Nurse Practitioners), and PAs (Physician Assistants). Regardless of their exact title, providers are there to assess, diagnose, and treat patients.
Social Worker
The social worker is necessary when coordinating care both before and after discharge. They provide patients with resources in and out of the hospital to enhance their care.
Pharmacist
The pharmacist overlooks all medications for each and every patient in the hospital. They’re who you call when you aren’t sure if two medications can be given together.
Occupational Therapist, aka OT
OTs are another essential part of the team. They’re there to make sure patients can perform all their ADLs, or Activities of Daily Living, before being discharged. Like brushing their teeth, preparing food, and doing laundry.
Physical Therapist, aka PT
PTs, similar to OTs, make sure the body is functioning properly, but instead of focusing primarily on ADLs, they’re looking at the whole body. For example, if you broke your foot, you might still be able to brush your teeth, but you’re not able to walk like you used to. So, they’ll get you back up in walking shape.
Respiratory Therapist, aka RT
RTs are similar to OTs and PTs in the sense that they are rehabbing your body, but their primary focus is on your breathing. Is your patient converting air into breathable oxygen? Are their lungs functioning properly? Are they in respiratory distress? These are all questions of a RT.
RTs are almost always there when a code or rapid is called. Protecting the airway is #1 for them, and for you!
Technicians
Radiology and laboratory technicians are also super important. They turn blood samples into ABGs and hurt limbs into exact images. Because of them, we can see what is invisible to the naked eye and treat accordingly.
Speech-Language Pathologist
Speech-language pathologists are incredibly important when it comes to patients who are having a difficult time speaking, swallowing, or just moving their head, neck, or jaw altogether. For example, a patient who suffered from a stroke might be having difficulty eating foods they were once able to eat with no problems. Speech-language pathologists can come in, assess the situation, and develop a plan of care. They might even suggest a different diet for a patient, such as mechanical soft, to avoid aspiration until the patient is stronger.
Registered Dietitian
Similarly to speech-language pathologists, registered dietitians also care about what you eat. However, their primary focus is the nutrients your body is getting from the food you are consuming rather than the mastication. Registered dietitians are important for patients who have diabetes, Crohn’s disease, and Celiac disease just to name a few.
Spiritual Care
And last but definitely not least, spiritual care, including pastors, rabbis, and priests. Often times, patients in the hospital are facing a near death experience which for religious, and even previously non-religious people, mean they want some extra spiritual healing.
As nurses, we are often wrapped up in our nursing checklist we’ve created for ourselves, but we must remember that our patients are humans too. They want to talk and pray and know that they are being cared for both physically and spiritually. So take your time with each patient, check on their mental health and notice if they have any religious figures, tattoos, symbols or markings. Ask them if you can put in a spiritual care request. What’s the worst that could happen?
And that’s it! A complete guide to the healthcare team.
Also be sure to check out the following posts!
- A Guide to Delegation and the Nursing Process
- An Intro to Pharmacology
- The 10 Rights of Medication Administration
- The Role of Code Teams in the Hospital Setting
- And more!