Essay-Collaboration and Teamwork in Health Care

Collaboration and Teamwork in Health Care

The Concept of Collaboration in Health Care

The most predominant perception among the practitioners, especially the nurses has been that the doctors have their way in exerting their power over the nurses. Whether there is any truth to this thinking is no longer of much significance because the last two decades have seen considerable growth in collaborative partnerships (Weller, Boyd, & Cumin, 2014). Our facility has seen the successes of true collaboration for the team members, the patients and their families. A credible partnership exists when the physicians and the nurses acknowledge the fact that successful collaboration occurs when the interdisciplinary team adopts an effective communication policy (Feweter-Thuente, 2015). The importance of an open communication policy to members of a team working in collaboration should not be underestimated because it allows for efficient functioning and sharing of information (Petri, 2010). Besides, the partners must share the decision-making process to enhance acceptance of the decisions and increase the participation of the members (Hood, 2014). When the team members hold mutual respect for each other, the results are positive health outcomes for patients and the entire healthcare continuum.

Benefits of Effective Collaboration and Teamwork in Health Care

The most crucial benefit of collaboration is the creation of teamwork that is vital to achieving success for the patients and their families and satisfaction for the care providers. One advantage of the collaborations is that it encourages shared decision making and the nurses get involved which is unlike the patriarchal system where the doctors give instructions to nurses (Feweter-Thuente, 2015). In collaborations, the input of all team members is given the desired significance and consideration (Weller et al., 2014). Giving due significance to each team member’s contribution ensures that the individuals bring forth a diversity of knowledge and expertise which when combined, results in the desired health outcomes. Medical errors may result if a team that works towards a common goal adopts a hierarchical relationship.

Effective collaboration is founded on the policy of open communication. Statistics have already indicated that more than 70% of the medication errors occur because of the poor communication among the healthcare providers (Feweter-Thuente, 2015). These figures can be greatly reduced if the collaborative process is well defined and the doctors and the nurses’ differences on the perceptions of teamwork are changed for the positive. With this approach, the practitioners are able to identify with ease where the gaps in the interdisciplinary partnerships exist and decisively act on it. This perspective is emphasized by Feweter-Thuente (2015) who argues that handling the gaps that exists in the relationships between the nurses and the doctors has the capacity to positively enhance the health outcomes of the patient and increase the satisfaction of the providers (Feweter-Thuente, 2015).  When the patients are involved in the medication and healing process, their participation and levels of adherence to the medication action plans are greatly enhanced (Petri, 2010). It is only proper that the patient is able to understand what they are suffering from and together with the providers make the decision concerning the best form of action which ultimately influences their well-being and satisfaction that the doctors and nurses have their best interest at heart.

Characteristics and Concepts Required for Effective Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Collaborations are critical in the provision of quality care to the patients in the modern health care systems. An interdisciplinary partnership should be able to define the tactic they will apply when providing service to the clients (Feweter-Thuente, 2015). The members must also understand that despite their diverse background and professional training, they share the common objectives of providing the best of quality care to the patients. The performance of the responsibilities of the diverse professional in the team should be able to continuously complement each other (Weller et al., 2014).  Effective collaborations should also have a clearly defined means of communication between the team members, the patients and the families of the patients if the needs of the patients are to be planned and achieved. Besides communication, clear delegation of roles and respect for each role is critical for the smooth running of a team basis (Fewster-Thuente, 2015).  Each and every member of the team should have specific duties and tasks which are coordinated and guided by a leader chosen among the group through the use of the appropriate communication strategy.

To support collaboration, the members of the team must have the ability to develop and demonstrate emotional maturity. This is shown in their relationship with the colleagues and their patients in the way of communication and respect for divergent opinions. As a result of the different professional training, the members should illustrate the ability to accommodate divergent opinions and perspectives. Indeed, being inflexible and holding to the cultural norms and the influences of the professors and educators can only help in undermining the efforts of the partnership (Bender, Connelly, & Brown, 2013). It is also necessary that the skill sets of the team members are kept current and ensuring their vigilance to identifying the modern best practices is at the maximum. These modern best practices should be implemented in the running of the partnership and in the provision of health care to the patients.

Barriers to Effective Interdisciplinary Collaboration

The success of interdisciplinary collaborations can be derailed by the conflicts that may arise among team members. While in practice, it is common for disputes to arise, lack of effective communication is at the root of poor communication (Feweter-Thuente, 2015). Failure to determine the collaborative approach and not defining the conflict resolution mechanisms in case of disputes is preparing to fail in achieving the goals of the collaboration. As it has been mentioned above, it does not help to hold rigid positions that are specific to a specific profession (Petri, 2010).  Having the mentality of ‘this is how we have always done it’ will have a negative impact on the team.

Evidence-Based Strategies to Overcome Barriers to Effective Interdisciplinary Collaboration

All is not lost despite the existence of the barriers to effective collaboration. There are some strategies that we have identified in our operations that have been able to help us refocus on the goals and objective of the partnership. First and most significantly is to clearly define the collaborative strategy or tactic to be used. The tactic applied must consider the diversity of opinions and perspectives in addition to having a clearly defined and accepted mechanism for resolving conflicts (Bender et al., 2013). The leadership of the team should encourage the setting up of ground rules that will guide the team and the members should be able to contribute to and accept the rules (Weller et al., 2014). The leadership should further enhance an open communication policy to resolve any tensions and disputes that may arise among the team members. Adopting the modern best practices that are based on evidence and having shared decision-making responsibilities is also crucial to overcoming the challenges. Respectful negotiations among the professional and the patients and their families should be achieved and one effective way of doing so is the dropping of the titles and assuming the assigned names to mitigate the deleterious effects of unequal authority and power.

Collaboration and Teamwork in Health Care