In the Swedish Covenant Hospital model of care, nurses collaborate with every other member of your patient care team - physicians, therapists, pharmacists, and more. We coordinate all the information needed to address your health concerns and support the work of every other member of your health care team.While nurses are 100% responsible for patient care, we also know that all the thoughtful hard work of every other member of your health care team means nothing without our dedication to coordinate everyone's contribution to your wellness.
Physicians visit their inpatients at least once a day on every unit, and nurses work extremely closely with them to convey your condition and monitor your progress. The relationship between a nurse and a practicing physician is different from department to department. We work elbow-to-elbow with physicians in demanding environments like the Emergency Department, and the Intensive Care Unit, and in a more collegial manner in other areas, like medical-surgical. But in every case, we work together in a supportive environment. There is great mutual respect among the nurses and all other colleagues, because we can only do our best with the support of our colleagues.
Even the way we share information reflects the strong and clear communication and support across the various members of your health care team. To formally track of all the important details about your well-being, we use centrally-located patient records known as a Electronic Medical Record (EMR) or Electronic Health Record (EHR). And when we speak to each other as individuals, we all use the common languages of medical terminology and English to most effectively share information about the state of your health.
In those rare moments of interdisciplinary conflict, when perhaps a physician and a nurse or patient don't see eye to eye, we resolve the situation quickly by following the chain of command, making any necessary reports through Risk Management, and examining and resolving formally at the highest level. Patient care and patient safety depend on harmonious relationships among all the health care professionals at Swedish Covenant. Conflict strategies are also very important to us because examining problems helps us learn to work together even better in the future.
To foster interdisciplinary relationships, we keep nurses present on every single committee, with members across different practices participating together on the same committees. We also maintain a collaboration cross-practice area, which allows us to learn from each other and support each other's work even more. Our physicians are very demonstrative in their support of nursing staff because we are aligned with them in our commitment to your care.
To learn more about our Journey to Magnet Excellence, click here. For more information about Nursing at Swedish Covenant Hospital, please call the Nursing Administration office at (773) 878-8200, Ext. 5600.
