According to Andreas Westerfellhaus, the Federal Government’s representative for nursing, all players in the health care professions in the German health care system should be given more competencies and more responsibility in their respective fields. In addition, the expert in nursing advocates the formation of interprofessional teams so that communication with people from other health care professions can take place at eye level.
Since January of this year there is already a strategy process new beginning, which is to contribute to a readjustment. The first thing to do, however, is to balance the legal liability basis for this in order to (re)distribute competencies. As an example, Westerfellhaus cited the independent work of practitioners and wound experts in wound management at the „Interprofessional Working in the Healthcare Sector“ event held in Berlin. Diagnosis, coding and therapy decisions should be the responsibility of wound managers in the outpatient sector. Only they can decide what the patient really needs. However, other medical professional groups could be involved for consultation.
The newly launched strategy process is supported primarily by the German Federal Ministry of Health (BMG), the German Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, the German Medical Association, nursing professional associations and nursing chambers.
Westerfellhaus demands special commitment from nursing professionals with regard to the Federal Chamber of Nursing, which stands as an important driving force for the further development of the nursing profession, because the Lower Saxony Chamber of Nursing would face a planned dissolution, explains the nursing representative. Andreas Westerfellhaus bases his demand on the final report of the concentrated action care.
Source: Aerzteblatt