concept of collaboration in nursing

Collaborative Nursing

The concept of collaboration comes naturally to human beings . The need to survive requires people to work together to work for their common interests . Over the course of our collective history , we have been compelled to set aside our differences and come together in to achieve a greater good

Nowhere is the concept of collaboration more important than in the health care system , where lives are on the line . The concept of collaboration in nursing involves two aspects : the collaboration between doctors and nurses , and the collaboration among nurses

. In this regard Sullivan defines collaboration as the interaction that allows for the synergestic merging of knowledge and skills that allows for the maximum benefit of the patient . He further elaborates that collaboration requires the mutual agreement regarding medical philosophies and models of practice , putting the welfare of the patient first , above anything else (1998 , 3

The tension between doctors and nurses can be explained by history During the early years of the nursing profession , nurses were generally perceived as doctor 's right hand , fulfilling the role of assistants in the health care system . But that is a widely held misconception . In reality , nurses and doctors have stood side-by-side as equals dispensing different but complementary duties of patient care . This means that the nature of health care presupposes collaboration if sick people have any chance of surviving their illness and eventually getting well . The truth is that there is no hierarchy doctors and nurses have their own important roles to play . And doctors and nurses are aware of that . They have an implicit understanding of how their duties to the patient straddle and overlap each other 's turf (Nevada RNformation 2004 . The problem is that while this understanding among doctors and nurses is implicit , there is no formal documentation to make the concept of collaboration the standard practice among health care institutions

The delineation of roles between doctors and nurses is mostly an accident . It just so happened that physicians existed way before nurses (Hadley , 1989 . To define their roles , doctors encompassed a broad area of responsibility , leaving very little room for nurses to define their own profession . Left with no choice , nurses had to device their own scope of practice that is unique from those of physicians . This resulted in an arrangement that created the perception that nurses were subordinate to doctors . It is a product of history and it was nobody 's fault . The good thing is that this model did not become an absolute rule . Nurses constantly redefined their practice to suit the needs of society . Refusing to limit themselves , nurses continued to push the boundaries of health care , notwithstanding the inferior perception of the public

Technological advances have made health care even more effective at curing people 's illness and prolonging patient 's lives . And as more people avail of health care , the need for collaboration among health care workers is imperative

The problem is that in an industry of professionals , rivalry and competition...