How much do you know about other medical professions?

sjalv · May 23, 2015

I just finished an RN program and it wasn't something that was really addressed. We focused some on what LPN's can and cannot do because we need to know in order to delegrate appropriately, but paramedics, x-ray techs, sonographers, medical assistants, RT's, lab techs, etc? Not a mention. Everything I know about other healthcare professionals, I've learned either from interacting with them, working with them, or Google.

Mthom17 · May 23, 2015

I feel that medical professionals sound at least be familiar with the tools of people they will be in charge of or come in contact with most. So, a physician should know about the roles and scope of practice of nurses, PAs, EMS (if going to the ER), RTs, MAs (if going into family medicine), etc.

RNs should know about LPNs and STNAs, EMS, PAs and physicians (obviously), etc.

NurseGirl525, ASN, RN · May 24, 2015

It's pretty simple actually. A physician focuses on the disease and treating it. A nurse focuses on how that patient responds to the disease. You just need to look at the medical model vs. The nursing model.

Mthom17 · May 24, 2015

It's pretty simple actually. A physician focuses on the disease and treating it. A nurse focuses on how that patient responds to the disease. You just need to look at the medical model vs. The nursing model.

I'm talking more scope of practice wise. For example, I will be taking my test to become an EMT soon. As an EMT, I may be responsible for giving orders to an EMR, or Emergency Medical Responder. I don't know much about their scope of practice except that they can perform CPR and hold C-spine. I think they can give oxygen...

Anyways, because I wasn't required to be an EMR before becoming an EMT, I will be relying on them to tell me what they can and cannot do. Of course you can't be expected to know EVERYTHING that someone else does, but if you're going to be working with a variety of different professionals, I feel that we should have a working knowledge about them.

verene, MSN · May 24, 2015

I feel learning more about other healthcare professions, their scope of practice, and what they routinely do and do not do would be beneficial. I'm fortunate to have some knowledge of other areas (firefighter/EMT, Nurse, MD, radiologist, social workers, chaplains, etc) because I know people who work in these areas, but not everyone comes from a social circle with lots of health professionals, and even knowing people socially and having a small idea of their jobs isn't the same as having the grounding to interface professionally. A broad overview of other jobs could help in terms of team collaboration, delegation of tasks, or even which person would could be most likely to know an answer to a question.

CelticGoddess, BSN, RN · May 25, 2015

I feel learning more about other healthcare professions, their scope of practice, and what they routinely do and do not do would be beneficial. I'm fortunate to have some knowledge of other areas (firefighter/EMT, Nurse, MD, radiologist, social workers, chaplains, etc) because I know people who work in these areas, but not everyone comes from a social circle with lots of health professionals, and even knowing people socially and having a small idea of their jobs isn't the same as having the grounding to interface professionally. A broad overview of other jobs could help in terms of team collaboration, delegation of tasks, or even which person would could be most likely to know an answer to a question.

Just want to point out: A radiologist is an MD. A radiographer (or rad tech, or RT(followed whatever initials they are qualified in) is a different animal altogether. Signed a retired RT®.

Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN · May 25, 2015

I didn't, except for in pharmacy class, we learned scope of practice r/t drugs. So RN can't prescribe or dispense, PharmD can't prescribe, MD can't dispense.

Of course we learned the CNA scope for delegation purposes.

I would have liked to learn more about the various roles, but figured it out in practice.

verene, MSN · May 25, 2015

Just want to point out: A radiologist is an MD. A radiographer (or rad tech, or RT(followed whatever initials they are qualified in) is a different animal altogether. Signed a retired RT®.

I didn't know that was the distinction; thank you for letting me know. Just proves that it is important to know a little bit more about all those other people in the health care team!

Quiller · May 31, 2015

That would actually be a wonderful course for anyone going into medicine to take. Part of me hopes our nursing program goes over something like it but the rest of me is already daunted by what we are covering and dreading another test on pretty much anything. While some people acknowledge the difference in clinical skills between a specialist and general physician, many people are completely unaware of the difference between an ultrasound tech and a staff member briefly trained on it's use. I actually don't think lay people care but it would be advantageous to all medical fields to have a better understanding of what everyone actually does.

Or at least the difference between a firefighter and EMT since fire and EMS are two completely different systems that are only merged in 30-42% of US cities depending on the reference you check. Big hint, one of them fights fires, the other one has trouble getting mortgage loans and supplementary health insurance because banks think paramedics and EMTs should have the same job turnover rate as police and firefighters when, as medical personnel, EMS has the same turnover rate as nurses and doctors..which is substantially higher.

Health insurance and disability companies literally do not have a category for EMS and don't understand when you say things like, "I understand the doctor wrote 'light duty' on my paperwork but we don't really have 'light duty'. The bare minimum to come to work is the ability to lift 150lbs off the ground and walk a quarter mile carrying a 30lb bag. No, I don't fight fires, I'm a paramedic, but if I was trained as a firefighter, I could probably do that with my shoulder a lot easier than I can do two minutes of compressions...More importantly, what fire-free ocean wonderland do you live in where a firefighter with a bad shoulder is still able to work effectively? Do they politely ask the fire to calm down? Princess wave to it with the hand attached to the good shoulder? Can you just send me the disability insurance I've been paying for so my shoulder can heal and I can go back to work and cancel this useless excuse for a policy? I literally have the most common shoulder injury for my field which you'd know if we were recognized as a field by insurance and healthcare and the subsequent accident, injury, illness and disability statistics done."

And that conversation is how my shoulder went from, "Wear this sling for two weeks and take an anti-inflammatory." to, "We ordered a brace for you but you're still okay to work light duty." to, "You're at that point where it can go either way. You either need to rest it for six weeks or you're going to need surgery."