Dr. Eric Rosenberg and Dr. Rebecca Pauly organized several shadowing experiences between 2nd Year Medical Students and nurses at Shands at UF as part of the Quality and Patient Safety Course. Below is a testimonial of a student describing their experience and thoughts on the interdisciplinary collaboration.
“I enjoyed spending time working with Mr. Lopez-Trejo; it was very easy to tell he wanted to learn as much as possible. I originally volunteered to participate in these shadowing experiences because I believe it is very important for physicians to have an idea what the nursing staff does while they are not present, and how we can help make their day easier. Physicians are very busy with their patients and the nursing staff is a great resource to lessen the load by allowing us to be their eyes and ears. With today’s communcation abilities, we are able to provide them with full updates and information so they can multitask from different areas and not have to spend valuable time commuting between floors. Other Unit 64 staff members chimed in to explain to Jorge how knowing your nurses and working with them as a team does wonders with patient and family satisfaction. Seeing future medical professionals want to learn and prepare for their future experiences is always a plus. It always makes you feel good when you see people giving their all to what they do.”
Juan Carlos Ucros BSN, RN (Unit 64 MS)
“It was really a special opportunity to be able to shadow Mr. Ucros, BSN, RN for a couple of hours on Unit 64. During professional school, it’s easy to get lost in the details of basic science and lecture, and lose sight of the fact that patient care is a dynamic, organic process, deeply founded in interdisciplinary teamwork. Mr. Ucros showed me the basic ropes of Unit 64; from navigating the EPIC system, to checking in with patients, to coordinating with physicians, pharmacists, and social work on specific aspects of individual patient care. He really made clear to me the absolute necessity of good communication between members of the healthcare team in order to deliver truly effective and efficient care to patients under their care. I really appreciate Mr. Ucros taking the time to show me around and get a glimpse of living medicine. I know he and the Unit 64 team are busy professionals, and it was very generous of him to take a couple hours out of his day to let me tag along, answer my questions, and help me get a better sense of the real-time pace and protocol of a medical floor.”
Jorge Lopez-Trejo, 2nd Year Medical Student (UF COM)