7.1 Collaboration Within the Interprofessional Team Introduction

All health care students must prepare to deliberately work together in clinical practice with a common goal of building a safer, more effective, client-centered health care system. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines interprofessional collaborative practice as multiple health workers from different professional backgrounds working together with clients, families, caregivers, and communities to deliver the highest quality of care.^[1]

Effective teamwork and communication have been proven to reduce medical errors, promote a safety culture, and improve client outcomes.^[2] The importance of effective interprofessional collaboration has become even more important as nurses advocate to reduce health disparities related to social determinants of health (SDOH). In these efforts, nurses work with people from a variety of professions, such as physicians, social workers, educators, policy makers, attorneys, faith leaders, government employees, community advocates, and community members. Nursing students must be prepared to effectively collaborate interprofessionally after graduation.^[3] 

The Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) has identified four core competencies for effective interprofessional collaborative practice. This chapter will review content related to these four core competencies and provide examples of how they relate to nursing.