Interdisciplinary Teamwork and Collaboration An Essential Element of a Positive Practice Environment

Abstract

Interdisciplinary collaboration is critical to excellence in patient care delivery. There is a growing consensus that the basic education for all clinical professionals should include the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required to effectively participate in interdisciplinary teams, and that health care organizations should continue this education in the practice setting. The authors examine the large and growing evidence base regarding interdisciplinary collaboration and teamwork and explore the relationship between interdisciplinary collaboration and patient, workforce, and organizational outcomes. Antecedents and attributes of the construct are presented, as well as structures, models, and programs that are being implemented by health care organizations and academic settings to facilitate and advance interdisciplinary collaboration in clinical practice.

Perceived quality of interprofessional interactions between physicians and nurses in oncology outpatient clinics

“…The recent development of clinical pathways to help patients experiencing distress, and the recent introduction of patient navigation models, have also expanded the network (and increased the complexity) of patient care teams. Within this context, healthcare providers need to connect with each other: high-quality workplace relationships, as signified by positive interpersonal interactions, enhance collaborative competence and facilitate collaboration and coordination of care (Ponte et al, 2010). Oncology nurses working in outpatient clinics face unique challenges with regard to collaboration, because the structures and processes used in ambulatory care differ from those used in inpatient care.…”

“…The performance of healthcare teams is known to strongly affect the quality of patient care in all medical subspecialties, including oncology (Baggs et al, 1999;Manojlovich, 2010;Mukamel et al, 2006;Ponte et al, 2010;Friese and Manojlovich, 2012). As a result, more researchers have been focussing on various aspects of interprofessional teamwork and collaboration.…”

Interdisciplinary palliative care teams : insights and experiences of chaplain interns and social work interns.

“…The concept that safety, quality, and efficiency in patient care is improved by the processes within the team that views all its members as equals, encourages interdisciplinary teamwork, and reduces the traditional hierarchical systems (Ponte et al, 2010;Sargeant et al, 2008).…”

“…Basic education for clinical professionals should include the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required for effective interdisciplinary team participation and this education should be supported within the practice setting (Ponte et al, 2010). According to the documented reflective writings, the interns appeared to be well prepared for their interdisciplinary palliative care team placement.…”

Collegiate presence: explaining homogenous but disparate nursing relationships

“…Underpinning such operational relationships is the view that interdisciplinary collaboration, or teamwork, is essential to ensure the success of primary health care (Ponte et al . ) and that such an approach contributes to better client outcomes. Despite the literature being replete with the said importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, Petri () asserts broad variations in the qualities that are believed to comprise interdisciplinary collaboration.…”