Answer 1 10
Running Head: NURSING
Collaboration in Nursing
Student’s Name
College
Course Title
Instructor’s Name
Assignment Due Date
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NURSING
Abstract
Nursing is a complex profession that requires collaborative efforts from multifaceted entities to
promote integrated and specialized knowledge and skills towards addressing the health issues and
make complex health decisions that promote patient-centered and evidence-based practice. Intraprofessional relationships refer to collaboration within the same discipline or specialization while
inter-professional teams are inter-disciplinary teams that foster collaboration and exchange of
specialized knowledge that aids decisions. Communication is vitally important in nursing
collaborations, as it fosters the dissemination of information, determining the ultimate course of
action and outcome. Scholars argue that these teams must adopt customized communication
strategies to nurture intra and inter-disciplinary relationships that create a positive work
environment, hence patient-centered care. Poor communication strategies impede information
circulation, decision-making, teamwork, and adoption of quality interventions. These can be
mitigated by developing and deploying suitable communication strategies for the teams’ usability.
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Intra-professional communication
Nursing is a complex profession that requires effective collaboration from various entities.
These entities’ input enhances integrated and collaborative approaches to patient care, hence
holistic, patient-centered, and positive outcomes. Particularly, inter-professional and intraprofessional relationships are critically important, as they foster teamwork and inter-disciplinary
communication (Herm-Barabasz, 2015), providing collaborative decisions that promote safe and
quality care.
The scenario and quotes attribute collaborative practices among medical practitioners. For
instance, quote 3 details the staff’s conversations and communications. Practically, there is crucial
evidence for poor communication among the team. The nurses lack proper communication
etiquette, which has various effects on their overall productivity. First, there is a lack of cohesion
and integrity, as one is instructed to perform their duty, regardless of the method they will use.
This has an adverse consequence on the nurse and patient. Medical errors might probably arise
from this scenario, as the instructed nurse will deploy any means to get the job done. Besides, there
is a likelihood of non-exhaustive research or practice. This may occur when one is coerced to
perform a specific task, yet they have limited capability or skills.
Also, this communication strategy is inappropriate and can result in ineffective decisions.
For instance, when nurse managers interact with nurses in such a way, nurses are likely to feel
demotivated, dissatisfied, and inefficient. Researchers note that dissatisfied employees have a high
tendency to make ineffective decisions (Herm-Barabasz, 2015), which for this case, might affect
the provision of holistic and quality care to the patients. Thus, this method will impede the
provision of patient-centered care.
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The most effective communication strategy for this intra-professional collaboration is open
communication. Open communication can be achieved through an understanding of roles, the
scope of practice, and teamwork among members. Herm-Barabasz (2015) maintains that intraprofessional collaborations require cooperation for effectiveness, thus proposing a collaborative
understanding of the group’s and individual’s roles, duties, and scope of practice. The nurses
should adopt this strategy to enhance prompt and effective completion of personal duties, hence
group success. In open communication, the nurse manager should allocate duties and guide each
person through extensive information search and outcomes. This will promote the flawless
completion of duties, sharing of information, and treating patients, creating a positive therapeutic
environment.
The second intra-professional scenario is listed as quote 6. This scenario details teammate’s
dismissal of their colleague’s call and professional duty. In professional experience, this is termed
as sabotage, where an individual dismisses another’s claims and practices for personal or any other
gain. This is a poor communication strategy, as informing the patient creates distrust in the team
and process. A possible implication is earning patient distrust. Sharing professional doubts or
varied believes about a treatment method with the patient only confuses the patient and causes
them to lose their trust in the process.
Besides, the communication strategy results in limited collaborative practice, as the team
has varied opinions about their decisions. This is dangerous, as it inhibits collaboration, leaving
all decisions and practices to individuals. The nursing practice is prone to medical errors,
miscommunication, confusion, and lack of cohesion, which impede the provision of quality and
patient-centered care (Herm-Barabasz, 2015).
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The best communication strategy for this team is shared practice. Here, the nurses should
meet jointly to deliberate the best practices and approaches to handle various situations.
Complaints and disagreements should be channeled through a single unit for deliberation. With
shared practice, the nurse will support and direct each other correctly and politely, without
contradicting their opinions and methods in front of the patient. Debriefing can be adopted to
ensure the nurses agree with specific methods and practices before approaching the patient.
Inter-professional communication
On the other hand, the scenario depicts inter-professional communication strategies. The
first inter-professional example is documented as quote 2. This example infers miscommunication
among the different stakeholders in the medical department. Typically, there are numerous adverse
consequences to such communication. First, it demoralized the nurses, as they feel their
professional experience has been diminished. Such can result in unprofessional practice, hence
harm to the patient. Second, the communication approach can lead to inappropriate or unwanted
decisions (Franz et al, 2020). Here, the nurse did not receive prior communication, inferring a lack
of shared decision-making.
The scenario’s communication approach is delicate and can affect patient safety and care.
For instance, failing to inform the nurse of the required physical exercises and medication would
infer a lack of administration. This would have adverse effects on the patient’s recovery. Lastly,
the method can result in insubordination claims among the nurses. This is because of the
information flow, which had not been disseminated to the nurse. This can affect overall
productivity.
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An effective communication strategy would involve clear and concise documentation and
sharing of information. Timely dissemination of information to all stakeholders is critical for crosssectional interactions (Franz et al, 2020). Although each stakeholder may capture and represent
the information in different formats, clear and concise documentation and sharing of information
and decisions are key for quality care. Therefore, all stakeholders should work collaboratively to
enhance the swift and efficient dissemination of information that fosters patient care.
The other inter-professional scenario is outlined as quote 8. Here, a doctor dismissed a
concerned physical therapist harshly, which infers poor inter-professional communication. The
effects of this approach are visible. For example, the scenario could lead to delayed treatment,
which for this case, would be delayed patient discharge. Such altercations can also result in
stakeholder dissatisfaction or feeling inferior, mostly when others openly dismiss genuine
concerns about a shared problem. On the other hand, the scenario can cause medication errors and
injury, especially when the patient is held in rather than being discharged. Cases of misdiagnosis
are likely to occur with ineffective communication (Bainbridge & Nasmith, 2011), as portrayed in
the example.
A suitable proposal to promote positive inter-professional communication and patient care
is the adoption of patient-centered communication (Bainbridge & Nasmith, 2011). This strategy
involves the development and integration of strategic approaches to communication, where crossprofessional teams focus on patient care. This can be achieved through professional training, where
stakeholders are taught to prioritize certain matters for patient’s safety. Stakeholders can acquire
on-the-job-training, which focuses on team organization and specific professional behavior that
fosters positive change. Resultantly, team members will share information promptly, allowing
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others to view and work on it before jointly making a decision. This will enhance patient safety
and efficiency in care, as inter-sectional decisions are achieved in due time.
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References
Bainbridge, L., & Nasmith, L. (2011). Inter and intra-professional collaborative patient-Centred
Care in Postgraduate Medical Education. Members of the FMEC PG consortium.
Franz, S., Muser, J., Thielhorn, U., Wallesch, C. W., & Behrens, J. (2020). Inter-professional
communication and interaction in the neurological rehabilitation team: a literature
review. Disability and rehabilitation, 42(11), 1607-1615.
Herm-Barabasz, R. M. (2015). Intraprofessional nursing communication and collaboration:
APN-RN-Patient bedside rounding.
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