Team 8: Section D20T: The Hospital Team’s Turmoil

Description

A dedicated healthcare team at the hospital is tasked with creating a comprehensive care plan for a child and their low-income family who are struggling with managing their child's type-1 diabetes, after bouts of recurring hyperglycemic episodes. The team consists of nurses, social workers, a dietician, and an early childhood educator (ECE). While curating the care plan, the nurses and dietician were quick to exclude the other members of the interprofessional team by incorporating a more health-based approach, with a pathological focus. This includes altering the child’s diet, as well as providing education about type-1 diabetes and insulin administration. In contrast, the social workers and the early childhood educator were more concerned about why the family was struggling to manage their child’s diabetes. Working independently from the other group, they determined their focus for the care plan to incorporate socioeconomic interventions to address various social gaps and client-based care. Upon the groups reconvening, conflicts arose regarding the contrasting care plans between the interprofessional team. This dispute includes conversations regarding viewing the child as a patient as opposed to a person, order of priority for factors impacting the child, and power conflicts between the various roles. After careful planning and critical reflection, the team decides to transform conflict by building a trusting relationship and engaging in intergroup dialogue.