Nursing

Students are required to submit weekly reflective narratives throughout the course that will culminate in a final, course-long reflective journal due in Topic 10. The narratives help students integrate leadership and inquiry into current practice.

This reflection journal also allows students to outline what they have discovered about their professional practice, personal strengths and weaknesses, and additional resources that could be introduced in a given situation to influence optimal outcomes. Each week students should also explain how they met a course competency or course objective(s).

In each week’s entry, students should reflect on the personal knowledge and skills gained throughout the course. Journal entries should address one or more of the areas stated below. In the Topic 10 graded submission, each of the areas below should be addressed as part of the summary submission.

While APA style is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and in-text citations and references should be presented using APA documentation guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

1) Interprofessional collaboration

ANSWER

Inter-professional Collaboration

Introduction

Inter-professional collaboration entails a team-based perspective in the practice of patient care. Most healthcare organizations and healthcare practitioners have considered Inter-professional collaboration to be vital in providing effective, safe, and efficient care (Reeves et al., 2017). The implementation of inter-professional collaboration into healthcare influences the day-to-day practices of nurses. Inter-professional collaboration has allowed professionals from varying backgrounds to meet, learn, interact, research and practice with the patient at the center of care. This paper will focus on a reflective narrative on inter-professional collaboration and personal knowledge and skills gained from the inter-professional collaboration practices.

Professional Practice

As healthcare delivery evolves to be more interconnected, coordination of nurses, physicians, pharmacists, and social workers has become necessary (Reeves et al., 2017). The team-based perspective has enabled multiple disciplines to work together more effectively to help boost patient outcomes. Healthcare provision requires different collaborations and interactions between healthcare professionals with varying education levels and qualifications. Effective collaboration between nurses, midwives, and physicians enables them to work together in a complex and dynamic care environment that boosts the quality of care, patient well-being, and provider satisfaction (Goldsberry, 2018). Considerably, as the healthcare needs become more sophisticated, it is less likely that one healthcare provider can meet the patient’s needs, thus the need for collaboration. Healthcare organizations that rely on the inter-professional collaboration models have been successful in patient-centered care. For instance, communication gaps have been costly since they led to misdiagnoses, missed symptoms, and multiple medical errors. Inter-professional collaboration has bridged the communication gaps by ensuring the professional team is connected to increase its efficiency.

New Practice Approaches

Inter-professional collaboration is a new practice approach designed to guide healthcare practices and think within the healthcare system. Effective interprofessional collaboration has been a significant component in delivering safe, therapeutic, and comprehensive patient care. Collaboration has various elements, including respect, trust, shared decision-making, and partnership. Enhancing inter-professional collaboration is now much needed to help lower undesirable events, communication, improve teamwork and positive patient outcomes (Goldsberry, 2018). Nurses have supported inter-professional collaboration through safety huddles, clinical rounds, documentation, and staff meetings that have streamlined communication practices and patient care. For inter-professional collaboration to be effective, the team members have to understand their scope of practice, area of expertise, and level of education. The healthcare professions share their purpose and identity, encouraging the team members to trust each other and offering a more holistic care approach.

Personal Strengths and Weaknesses

Mutual respect, communication, and responsibility have been among my major strengths in inter-professional collaboration. Experiencing, sharing, and practicing these traits has enhanced the skills required in inter-professional collaboration. One of the most important elements in inter-professional collaboration is trust and confidence, which is difficult for me to gain. Gaining trust for me takes a lot of personal contact and time. This has been one of my biggest challenges in the adaptation of inter-professional collaboration. However, I have realized that growing trust and confidence comes with being aware. Inter-professional collaborative approaches are significant for the improvement of patient health outcomes. Adopting the inter-professionals competencies have built my existing skills, values, knowledge, and attitudes as a nurse practitioner. I have entered into new contexts and developed new skills in collaboration.

In summation, inter-professional collaboration has improved patient outcomes and reduced medication errors. Inter-professional collaboration has promoted the active participation of every discipline in the provision of care. Collaborating with other healthcare professions can help reduce bias, drive innovation and widen perspectives in care provision.

References

Goldsberry, J. W. (2018). Advanced practice nurses leading the way: Interprofessional collaboration.

Reeves, S., Pelone, F., Harrison, R., Goldman, J., & Zwarenstein, M. (2017). Interprofessional collaboration to improve professional practice and healthcare outcomes. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (6).