Collaboration is the basis of a successful team. Collaboration is among the trademarks of a successful care provision to service users in the healthcare industry. When nurses and other healthcare providers collaborate, care quality and patient outcomes improve. Besides, the interprofessional team will enhance communication and coordination among themselves. Hence, this essay examines collaborative relationships between nurses and providers.
In the current healthcare system, delivering services to patients encompass various steps and involves different healthcare professionals with different educational levels and occupations. A patient can be served by additional employees such as doctors technicians, to mention a few. Accurate information should be communicated in such instances to ensure effective practice (Rosen et al., 2018). Besides, the healthcare delivery system illustrates a multifaced organization that operates under rules and regulations. This means coordinating and delivering safe, quality care-seeking collaboration inside and across the healthcare industry (Rosen et al., 2018) is key. According to O’Connor (2019), research shows that interprofessional collaboration between nurses and doctors is highly likely to reduce the average length of hospital stay by 0.6 days, increase discharges by 20 percent, and increase annualized bed turn by 20%. Hence, team collaboration is vital to ensure patient safety and reduce medical errors.
Collaboration is defined as “…interactions in which professionals work together cooperatively, with shared responsibility and interdependence” (Cheng et al., 2021, p.2). Nurses and providers’ collaboration is a vital issue that can enhance the exchange of information and assist them in understanding what has been communicated to the patient or their families. Collaboration can also enable nurses and providers to reduce staff distress (Cheng et al., 2021). Nonetheless, nurses and providers have had a difficult relationship forming a collaborative pattern in the healthcare industry because of the difficulties arising from their varied perceptions of professional practices (Blue, 2019). Nurses and providers must communicate effectively at their workplaces to foster accurate and suitable ways of transferring information for the safety of patients. There has been a divide between nurses and providers based on education, social norms, and gender, among others (Blue, 2019). Due to such differences, there are potential barriers to effective relaying of crucial patient information.
According to Rosen et al. (2018), policymakers, academicians, and the public are aware of the degree of preventable patient harm in the United State’s health care that may go beyond 250 000 deaths yearly. Some of these harms include patient falls, infections acquired in the hospital, diagnostic errors, among others. These errors may occur through a complex interaction in the delivery of care. Lack of collaboration is among the causes of the mentioned preventable harm. Research has also shown that the lack of interpersonal and communication skills between nurses and other providers such as physicians is linked to frustrations and inefficiencies in delivering care (Buljac-Samardzic et al., 2020; Rosen et al., 2018). On the other hand, better collaboration has been associated with reduced medical errors improved patient satisfaction, to mention a few; thus, better patient outcomes (Rosen et al., 2018).
Communication between nurses and providers is vital to promoting collaboration between them. Research has indicated that the safety of patients is normally affected by the absence of patient-centered communication. Besides, studies have suggested that a hierarchical team structure in the healthcare system may impede open communication between nurses and providers and show differences in how they relate because of their positions and statuses (Blue, 2019). Besides, it has been noted that while nurses have positive collaborative interactions with providers, especially physicians, the latter is less favorable (Blue, 2019). This implies that collaboration between nurses and providers must encompass open communication and shared responsibility in decision-making and problem-solving (Blue, 2019).
Job satisfaction will be felt due to improved nurse-providers collaboration. Research indicates that nurses and providers enjoy working when there are no barriers and communication between them. Also, Brown et al. (2015), as cited by Blue (2019), note that when nurses and physicians are happy, there is a high likelihood that patients would get better care and engage in their care, thereby enhancing the care experience. The findings of Brown et al. (2015) ‘s study indicated a direct connection between the nurses with strong professional values and positive attitudes towards their collaboration with doctors (Blue, 2019).
Trust is among the factors that can improve collaboration between nurses and providers. Building trust in the health care industry enables professionals to understand each other and what values each other brings to the industry (Wood, 2019). Furthermore, participating in team training provided by the hospitals is another way that promotes collaborative working as it ensures better teamwork. Research has indicated that nurses and providers participating in high-fidelity simulation training improved collaboration (Wood, 2019).
Overall, this essay has examined the collaborative relationship between nurses and providers. The essay has determined that little has been examined on the topic discussed. The research shows that the healthcare industry needs to promote collaborative relationships between nurses and other providers through training to ensure that they learn effective communication skills, teamwork, and interpersonal communication. This will enhance patient safety, improve quality of care, reduce discharges medical errors, among others.
References
Blue, M. (2019). USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center Improving Nurse-Physician Collaboration: Building an Infrastructure of Support. https://repository.usfca.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1192&context=dnp
Buljac-Samardzic, M., Doekhie, K. D., & van Wijngaarden, J. D. H. (2020). Interventions to improve team effectiveness within health care: a systematic review of the past decade. Human Resources for Health, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-019-0411-3
Cheng, Q., Duan, Y., Wang, Y., Zhang, Q., & Chen, Y. (2021). The physician-nurse collaboration in truth disclosure: from nurses’ perspective. BMC Nursing, 20(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-021-00557-8
O’Connor, W. (2019, November 4). 5 Benefits of Interprofessional Collaboration in Healthcare. TigerConnect. https://tigerconnect.com/blog/5-benefits-of-interprofessional-collaboration-in-healthcare/#:~:text=Interprofessional%20collaboration%20in%20healthcare%20helps
Rosen, M. A., DiazGranados, D., Dietz, A. S., Benishek, L. E., Thompson, D., Pronovost, P. J., & Weaver, S. J. (2018). Teamwork in healthcare: Key discoveries enabling safer, high-quality care. American Psychologist, 73(4), 433–450. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000298
Wood, D. (2019, May 7). 9 Ways Physicians Can Effectively Collaborate with Nurses | Merritt Hawkins. Www.merritthawkins.com. https://www.merritthawkins.com/news-and-insights/blog/healthcare-news-and-trends/9-ways-physicians-can-effectively-collaborate-with-nurses/
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