Introduction
Acute kidney injury is characterized by increased serum creatinine and oliguria, a quantifiable indicator of urine output. AKI is at least seven days long and only occurs once. Acute kidney disease (AKD) is a group of operational kidney diseases that can be mild or severe. AKD can occur even if AKI does not occur quickly; for example, if kidney function does not improve or structural kidney damage persists after AKI. (Kellum et al., 2021; Hoste et al., 2018). McKearney (2022) states that People who work across disciplines and with patients, families, and communities improve health outcomes by integrating knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes. This paper will discuss the caregiving provided by an interprofessional collaborative team to a patient suffering from chronic AKD for more than three months to ensure his health satisfaction.
Medical Case
A 75-year-old man is admitted with vomiting, nausea, and stomach discomfort. Furthermore, the patient has a history of cardiovascular disease, category two diabetes with lower albumin levels, high blood pressure, and hypercholesterolemia. Included in the drug list are Metformin and Ramipril medication drugs. The patient is experiencing sweating, and tachycardic (115), including having cool edges. On nasal oxygen, his highest temperature reach is 38.7°C, his BP is 96/55 mmHg, and his respiratory rate is 30. Erratic in time and place, Glasgow Coma Score 14 (E4, V4, M6). The adult also experiences tenderness and guarding in the right upper quadrant of his brain. His partner reports not passing urine that day, and he is catheterized with 120 ml of residual urine. In blood gases, there are a lot of acids in the blood: pH 7.35, base excess of 12mmol/L, lactate of 5.55mmol/L. There are 120 mm Hg of oxygen, carbon dioxide of 30 mmHg, and sodium 130mmol/L, and there are very few capillary blood ketones.
Sub-Competency Identification
To examine and resolve the patient health care needs appropriately and effectively and enhance and expand the population’s health, one must be knowledgeable about their role and the duties of other professions, leading to the category of role and responsibilities sub-competence in interprofessional practice. McKearney (2022) insists that health and other professionals should use their full breadth of knowledge, skills, and abilities to provide safe, dependable, equitable, and effective care while remaining fair and transparent to all patients and their families (RR5). In addition, people in health and other fields can work together and combine clinical services and population health management to improve the health of the whole community (RR10).
Interprofessional Team and the Plan of Care
Duty Physician
The physician must initiate measures to correct the root causes of acute kidney injury as soon as there is evidence of renal dysfunction. Because the correlation between serum creatinine and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is not sequential, serum creatinine must not rise to excessive levels until a significant proportion of the renal mass has been damaged (Workeneh, 2020; Prowle, 2018). Indeed, serum creatinine rising level may not be noticeable until the GFR has been reduced to half of its original value. The main treatment goals continue to be the preservation of volume metabolism, and the adjustment of biochemical anomalies will include:
- Hyperkalemia correction
- Furosemide fluid overload correction
- Bicarbonate administration to correct advanced acidosis
- Hematological anomalies reversal by use of estrogens and transfusions
Case manager
The case manager determines a client’s requirements and connects that client with the appropriate services and resources available. Davis (2022) states that case managers serve as facilitators rather than client services providers in their work with clients. People with long-term medical conditions may benefit from case management, but there are limits to this type of service’s effects. A case manager at a hospital usually looks at how much money the hospital spends and makes plans for when people leave. Making sure that a patient is getting the care they need and in the right place. For instance, in our case, these are the roles:
- Assessing the insurance plan of the patient from the insurer
- Arranging for home care nursing to ensure all is well
- Negotiating with the pharmacy for the patient to get the medicine at a fair price and on time
Social worker
AKI patient requires support from their caregivers, including interventions in psychosocial support, planning for discharge from the hospital, referral requests in the event of severe deterioration of health, and determining whether or not the AKI patient meets the criteria for referral to another facility. (Harkey, 2022). Social workers play a very key role in the interprofessional team during the care process; for example:
- Identifying, screening, and assessing timely consultations
- Advocating for comprehensive management of AKI case of the patient
- Documenting the patient’s care plan and medical records
Conclusion
Finally, in health care, you have to wait for things to happen in that patient wait for physicians, and in return, they wait for consultations from other doctors as well. Patients are irritated, and time is wasted because of communication delays, leading to worsening of their conditions. As a result, both interprofessional collaboration and clinical communication technology serve to fill the chasms. Using this, healthcare workers can stay in touch and receive notifications regularly. A comprehensive care team collaboration platform ensures that information is delivered promptly and via secure channels and procedures to those who need it.
References
Davis, E. (2022). Duties and Types of Case Managers. Health Insurance.
Hoste, E. A., Kellum, J. A., Selby, N. M., Zarbock, A., Palevsky, P. M., Bagshaw, S. M., Goldstein, S. L., Cerdá, J., & Chawla, L. S. (2018). Global epidemiology and outcomes of acute kidney injury – Nature Reviews Nephrology. 14(10), 607-625. DOI: 10.1038/s41581-018-0052-0
Harkey, J. (2022). Case Management at the Intersection of Social Work and Health Care, 17(1),20.
Kellum, J. A., Romagnani, P., Ashuntantang, G., Ronco, C., Zarbock, A., & Anders, H. J. (2021). Acute Kidney Injury, 7(52). Web.
McKearney, S. (2022). IPEC Core Competencies. IPEC Core Competencies.
Prowle, J. R. (2018). American society of nephrology. Sepsis-Associated, 13(2), 339–324.
Workeneh, B. T. (2020). Acute Kidney Injury Treatment & Management. Medscape.