7.1 Collaboration Within the Interprofessional Team Introduction
Learning Objectives
- Describe how nurses collaborate with the healthcare team to coordinate appropriate healthcare services for clients
- Describe collegial and professional practice within the healthcare team
- Identify members of the team and describe their contributions to optimize client outcomes
- Explore community resources to maximize a client’s functional abilities
- Describe procedures used to safely admit, transfer, and/or discharge clients
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.
- World Health Organization. (2010). Framework for action on interprofessional education & collaborative practice. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/framework-for-action-on-interprofessional-education-collaborative-practice ↵
- AHRQ. (2015). TeamSTEPPS: National implementation research/evidence base. https://www.ahrq.gov/teamstepps/evidence-base/safety-culture-improvement.html ↵
- National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2021). The future of nursing 2020-2030: Charting a path to achieve health equity. The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25982 ↵
Multiple health workers from different professional backgrounds working together with patients, families, caregivers, and communities to deliver the highest quality of care.