Hello. My name is Riape Odette Njoya. In this video presentation, I will focus on how to collaborate remotely and provide evidence-based care to improve the safety and outcomes of a patient. I will refer to a situation where remote collaboration was applied to provide evidence-based care to a patient in remote settings. As noted by Walker et al. (2020), monitoring remote patients without a support system can present a barrier to providing and accessing patient-centered and patient-preferred care. However, technological advances, especially in the communication domain, have made it possible to overcome the challenges experienced by nurses and other healthcare professionals in managing and providing care to remote patients. As such, telehealth provides a solution to overcome these barriers in care delivery and monitoring remote patients. Telehealth refers to health care services and actions of care providers that are delivered through audio and video telecommunication technology (Gajarawala & Pelkowski, 2021). The use of telehealth became mainstream in healthcare service delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic as it supported remote collaboration among healthcare professionals (Gajarawala & Pelkowski, 2021).
Let me highlight the scenario I will focus on in this video presentation.
The case involves Caitlynn, a two-year-old who had visited the ER last night and was admitted to the pediatric unit with pneumonia. She was attended to by Dr. Copeland, Virginia Anderson, and Rebecca Helgo, the hospital’s respiratory therapist. This was Caitlynn’s second admission for pneumonia in the last six months. It was noted she had a meconium ileus at birth. Dr. Copeland noticed that she (the patient) had reduced weight and decreased subcutaneous tissue observed in her extremities. Virginia Anderson, the pediatrician nurse providing care to Caitlynn, noted that she had also made similar observations and assumed that the patient might have some malabsorption of nutrients. After carrying out a sweat chloride test, the results indicated 65 milliequivalents per liter, and her mother noted that she tasted salty while kissing her. Caitlynn’s diagnosis was concluded, and it was noted that she had cystic fibrosis. Her treatment was commenced with an IV with piperacillin and a requirement for continued temperature monitoring.
Now, let’s look at the proposed evidence-based care plan to improve the safety and outcomes for Caitlynn,
Caring for Caitlynn requires coordination and collaboration between Caitlynn’s parents and the care providers. However, Dr. Copeland, Virginia Anderson, and Rebecca Helgo realized that providing care and coordinating with Caitlynn’s parents would not be easy. Her parents are separated and live out of town. This realization created the need to develop an evidence-based care plan to support remote collaboration to provide coordinated care for Caitlynn and improve her safety and health outcomes. Further, the use of social services consultation was also needed to enable the coordination of care and support the patient’s family. In this scenario, the adoption of telehealth services, specifically Skype, was proposed as an evidence-based solution to coordinate remote care for Caitlynn.