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Being an outsider to the CFHS, I am not too familiar with how things work within the branch. I did a search and wasn't able to come up with the answers I was looking for. Something I'm curious about is whether there are ever command conflicts when providing care to patients in the CFHS within the medical team.
What I'm trying to compare the health setting to is with that on a ship. On a ship, the Captain is always in command of the ship and it doesn't matter if there is someone higher ranking such as an admiral onboard, the Captain always has command of the ship itself (such as its movements, what happens onboard etc.). Similarily, the Officer of the Watch (OOW) on a ship can be the lowest ranking officer onboard (ie a SLt), but as the OOW, they are the highest 'ranking' (via position) onboard other than the Captain him/herself and is able to give orders to different departments etc. run by people higher ranking than him/her. These relationships are very specifically laid out in various orders and instructions the Navy has.
What I'm wondering is if there is something similar that occurs on the CFHS side of things. Does the MO always have 'command' over the trauma team or the care of a patient for example? What if a NO who's a Major disagrees with a treatment option a Captain (army) MO is giving? Is this command conflict avoided via specific orders or instructions given by the CFHS? Or is the MO expected to just follow the order and get on with it? Often these issues can be solved by scope of practice for each profession but with overlapping scopes, if the NO is a nurse practitioner and the order falls within the nurse practitioner scope of practice and the MO scope of practice...who has 'right of way?' Rank or profession/position as a MO?
To further complicate things, with some of the talk of having PA's become commissioned officers (something I believe the U.S. curently has), if a PA and MO disagree on patient treatment but the treatment lies within both profession's scope of practice and training (more likely to occur for the PA's than NO), and the PA is higher ranking than the MO...how would this conflict be resolved?
Have any of you encountered similar problems in your line of work?
What I'm trying to compare the health setting to is with that on a ship. On a ship, the Captain is always in command of the ship and it doesn't matter if there is someone higher ranking such as an admiral onboard, the Captain always has command of the ship itself (such as its movements, what happens onboard etc.). Similarily, the Officer of the Watch (OOW) on a ship can be the lowest ranking officer onboard (ie a SLt), but as the OOW, they are the highest 'ranking' (via position) onboard other than the Captain him/herself and is able to give orders to different departments etc. run by people higher ranking than him/her. These relationships are very specifically laid out in various orders and instructions the Navy has.
What I'm wondering is if there is something similar that occurs on the CFHS side of things. Does the MO always have 'command' over the trauma team or the care of a patient for example? What if a NO who's a Major disagrees with a treatment option a Captain (army) MO is giving? Is this command conflict avoided via specific orders or instructions given by the CFHS? Or is the MO expected to just follow the order and get on with it? Often these issues can be solved by scope of practice for each profession but with overlapping scopes, if the NO is a nurse practitioner and the order falls within the nurse practitioner scope of practice and the MO scope of practice...who has 'right of way?' Rank or profession/position as a MO?
To further complicate things, with some of the talk of having PA's become commissioned officers (something I believe the U.S. curently has), if a PA and MO disagree on patient treatment but the treatment lies within both profession's scope of practice and training (more likely to occur for the PA's than NO), and the PA is higher ranking than the MO...how would this conflict be resolved?
Have any of you encountered similar problems in your line of work?