You are a member of the interprofessional care team working inan acute rehabilitation setting. You have been working with MaryAndre, a 63-year-old woman status post coronary artery bypassgrafting complicated by a small stroke. Mary is gaining strengthand independence in her mobility and activities of daily living,but she lives alone and continues to have some memory impairmentsand lapses in safety that impact her level of functioning in homemanagement tasks such as cooking and medication management. At theteam meeting, the agreement was that Mary would remain atrehabilitation for 5 more days to advance her independence andsafety with instrumental activities of daily living beforetransitioning back home. You arrive at work and find out at morningrounds that Mary will be going home today. The case manager who isrunning morning rounds says, “We (the rehabilitation facility) needthe bed, and Mary is close enough to meeting her goals. We can gether home care services and just tell her not to cook until the homecare agency clears her.”
1. Articulate your next steps in discussing this decision withthe interprofessional care team.
2. What principles of interprofessional collaborative care arebeing challenged by this case?
3. What are some possible alternatives to ensure the outcome ofa caring response for Mary and the restoration of your (and her)faith in team decision making?
