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Caring for patients requires an interprofessional approach. The purpose of this article is to reflect on a specific experience of interprofessional working encountered while working as a nurse in clinical practice. A critical analysis and evaluation is offered with a focus on the extent to which interprofessional collaboration can enhance a patient's journey through the healthcare system.

There are increasing calls, from a range of stakeholders in the health sector, for healthcare professionals to work more collaboratively to provide health care. In response, education institutions are adopting an interprofessional education agenda in an attempt to provide health professionals ready to meet such calls.

This study explored the perceptions of staff in an interprofessional team based on a medical rehabilitation ward for older people, following the introduction of a service improvement programme designed to promote better teamworking. The study aimed to address a lack of in-depth qualitative research that could explain the day-to-day realities of interprofessional teamworking in healthcare. All members of the team participated, (e.g.

OBJECTIVES:

Evidence suggests that doctors and nurses do not always work collaboratively in health care settings and that this contributes to suboptimal patient care. However, there is little information on interprofessional collaboration (IPC) among new medical and nursing graduates working together for the first time in a multidisciplinary health care team. Our aim was to understand the nature of the interactions, activities and issues affecting these new graduates in order to inform interventions to improve IPC in this context.

METHODS:

CONTEXT:

Interprofessional education (IPE) has been gaining traction in post-secondary institutions. Many schools introduce IPE early to their health professional students, often in the context of a large-scale event in Year 1. This paper presents findings from a study undertaken by a medical student (a classmate of the research participants) and details Year 1 students' initial perceptions of IPE.

METHODS:

PURPOSE: To describe how a nurse and a physical therapist in an interprofessional (IP) school-based clinic collaborated to meet the needs of a child with pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified, with atypical classroom behaviors and declining student performance.

SUMMARY: The IP team sought answers for atypical classroom behaviors with declining student performance. Student sensory perceptions masked and delayed the ability to recognize infection.

Interprofessional teamwork is widely advocated in health and social care policies. However, the theoretical literature is rarely employed to help understand the nature of collaborative relations in action or to critique normative discourses of teamworking. This paper draws upon Goffman's (1963) theory of impression management, modified by Sinclair (1997), to explore how professionals 'present' themselves when interacting on hospital wards and also how they employ front stage and backstage settings in their collaborative work.

Growing evidence in a variety of health-care settings supports the need to strengthen nurse-physician communication and interprofessional collaboration to optimize patient-health outcomes. The objective of this study is to explore communication barriers from the perspective of nurses themselves, as well as physicians, patients and families in a hospital-based cardiac care setting. Qualitative analysis of individual interviews with 35 participants was taken in two hospitals in Tehran, Iran.

OBJECTIVE:

A substantial literature engaging with the directions and experiences of stakeholders involved in interprofessional health education exists at the international level, yet almost nothing has been published that documents and analyses the Australian experience. Accordingly, this study aimed to scope the experiences of key stakeholders in health and higher education in relation to the development of interprofessional practice capabilities in health graduates in Australia.

METHODS:

This qualitative study explored new nurses' experience of their role within interprofessional health care teams in a mental health organization in Canada. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 10 nurses. Content analysis revealed two main themes, namely, adopting a passive role to learn how to fit in and engaging in an active role to impact on patient care. Establishing credibility and building trust were central to the new nurses' transition from a passive to a more active role. Interpersonal and organizational factors contributed to the transition.