Integrating Social Work, Nursing and paramedicine in Emergency situation: challenges and strategies

Abstract

The urgent and integrated actions are essential to meet the multidimensional medical and psychosocial needs that are inherent in emergency cases. The combination of the social work, nursing, and paramedicine is one of the key requirements of the delivery of the holistic and patient-centered emergency care. The paramedics provide immediate pre-hospital interventions, nurses provide continuous clinical care and the social workers provide psychosocial support, crisis intervention and continuum of care.  The current review discusses the issues and plans that are relevant in interdisciplinary integration in emergency situations. The key issues include role ambiguity, lack of communication, organizational barriers, and insufficient interprofessional education, which more often than not leads to disjointed care. They include evidence-based measures, i.e., interprofessional training, the introduction of structured communication guidelines, development of supportive leadership, and incorporation of social workers in the emergency teams.