Inter-Professional Collaboration and Teamwork in Health Care Organizations: A Nursing Perspective

Running head: NURSING
Nursing
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Introduction
The present article addresses the valuable topic of inter-professional collaboration and
teamwork in health care organizations. The paper would explain the meaning of the term inter-
professional collaboration from a nursing perspective. It would then describe the qualities and
characteristics of effective inter-professional teams in terms of patient safety and care. The
limitations and benefits of such teams for health care organizations, members of a team, and
patients are then presented. The next section them explains the challenges of working in an inter-
professional team. Strategies to help people come together to function effectively as a
collaborative team are then highlighted. Lastly, how inter-professional teams define success is
explained.
Inter-professional collaboration from a nursing perspective
Inter-professional collaboration from a nursing perspective refers to the collective
involvement of different healthcare professionals working with caregivers, families and patients
for communicating unique perspectives on highest quality of healthcare. Such collaboration
occurs when nurses work in association with multiple health workers from diverse professional
backgrounds for providing comprehensive and optimal quality across care settings.
Characteristics and qualities of effective inter-professional teams in terms of patient care
and safety
A collaborative team would be a small number of professionals from different
backgrounds having complementary skills and committed towards a common goal. The members
are to move towards a performance goal and have a mutual approach. Further, they are to

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provide care to a particular group of clients, and are develop objectives for patient outcomes after
mutual discussions. Appropriate functions and roles are to be assigned to them, and it is also
important that each member understands the roles of others (Tang et al., 2018).
Benefits and limitations of inter-professional teams for health care organizations, members
of a team, and patients
Regan et al., (2016) pointed out that improved inter-professional collaboration acts as a
chief strategy for reforms in healthcare. Inter-professional teams have been proved to bring
major improvements in patient outcomes including reduction of adverse drug reaction, a
decrease in mortality and morbidity rates and optimization of medication doses. Additionally,
inter-professional teams can also provide benefits pertaining to healthcare professional are work
life, such as increased job satisfaction and reduction of burden. It has been found that healthcare
organizations are in a position to gain financial benefits when professionals work effectively in
teams, leading to suitable utilization of resources. The limitation of inter-professional teams is
that there might be an inappropriate flow of information among incompetent professionals that
might impair the care delivery process. The process of team formation might also be time-
consuming depending on the scenario.
Challenges of working in an inter-professional team
Though the possible benefits of inter-professional healthcare teams have been identified,
the implementation of the same in practice is faced with a number of challenges. The most
prominent challenge might be organizational barrier like the privation of agreement on the goal
and meaning of an inter-professional teams. In addition, there might be lack of funding and
dearth of organizational support for the same. At the pre-registration level, the main constraint is