The Tapestry of Nurse Collaboration

Collaboration among nurses and other healthcare professionals is central to the delivery of patient care. According to Merriam Webster ' s online dictionary, collaborate is defined "to work jointly with others or together especially in an intellectual endeavor " . This particular definition is perfect for our purposes where the work of nurses is concerned.Collaboration and cooperation are a hallmark of human society. While many of us humans don ' t exactly play nice, many human endeavors couldn ' t possibly happen without collaboration.Could a skyscraper be built if the carpenters, plumbers, and welders didn ' t collaborate? Could a car be manufactured if everyone on the assembly line just did whatever they want? Could a meal be cooked in a restaurant kitchen if no one listened to one another in the creation of the meal? Could a plane land if the pilot refused to collaborate with the air traffic controllers? If collaboration means that we ' re working jointly, then almost anything that a nurse can do in the course of his or her day is largely governed by collaboration.Some Examples of Nurses Engaging in CollaborationWhen nurses give one another report, they ' re collaborating on the care of a patient. And if a nurse is meeting with the physical therapist, surgeon, speech pathologist, and discharge planner, that group must by nature collaborate in order to maximize patient care and facilitate the course of treatment and eventual discharge. Providing care in...
Source: Digital Doorway - Category: Nursing Tags: nurse nurse collaboration nurse-doctor relations nurse-nurse relationships nurse-patient relationships nurses nursing Source Type: blogs