The systematic approach to patient care, known as the nursing process, provides the framework for delivering coordinated and effective health services. This process involves five sequential steps: assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation. During the diagnosis and planning phases, nurses identify various patient issues that require attention. Among these issues is the collaborative problem, a specific type of patient concern that requires the coordinated involvement of multiple healthcare disciplines.
Defining Collaborative Problems
A collaborative problem is a physiological complication that nurses monitor to detect onset or changes in status. Its management requires a combination of nursing and medical interventions. These problems represent potential or actual issues arising from a patient’s disease, injury, or medical treatment. The nurse focuses on continuous monitoring and taking measures to prevent the complication or minimize its severity.
The statement of a collaborative problem is often formatted as a potential complication, such as “Potential Complication: Hemorrhage” following a surgical procedure. This naming convention emphasizes that the nurse is actively watching for specific, predictable physiological changes. Examples include preventing a deep vein thrombosis or managing the early signs of sepsis. While nurses initiate independent actions like repositioning, the ultimate treatment often requires physician-prescribed medication or procedures.
Distinguishing Collaborative Problems from Nursing Diagnoses
The primary distinction between a collaborative problem and a nursing diagnosis lies in the scope of practice and professional accountability. A nursing diagnosis represents a patient’s response to a health condition that nurses are licensed to treat independently. For example, a patient with difficulty breathing due to anxiety might have the diagnosis “Ineffective Breathing Pattern,” which a nurse addresses with independent actions like guided relaxation techniques.
Conversely, collaborative problems involve physiological conditions where independent nursing actions alone are insufficient to resolve the issue. If the same patient’s breathing difficulty is due to a pulmonary embolism, the nurse cannot treat the underlying cause without physician-prescribed interventions. This scenario requires interdependent interventions, making it a collaborative problem. Accountability for collaborative problems is shared across the interdisciplinary team, including physicians and other specialists.
Interdisciplinary Management and Monitoring
Managing a collaborative problem requires the nurse to function as the central coordinator, continuously monitoring the patient’s status and implementing both independent and dependent interventions. Independent actions include frequent vital sign checks and detailed patient assessments to detect the earliest signs of a complication, such as a drop in blood pressure signaling potential internal bleeding. The established goals for a collaborative problem focus on maintaining normal physiological parameters, such as a stable heart rate or adequate oxygen saturation.
Dependent interventions involve carrying out treatments prescribed by the physician or following standardized protocols and standing orders. For instance, a nurse implements a prescribed protocol for administering dextrose to a patient at risk for a blood sugar drop. When a complication is suspected or begins to manifest, timely communication and consultation with the physician or other specialists is initiated immediately. This continuous, coordinated effort ensures a rapid response to prevent the complication from worsening.