Introduction
It is worth noting that at present, effective communication and collaboration are the key competencies required from all healthcare professionals. Such skills imply the ability to interact effectively with patients, their families, and other professionals in order to achieve the best patient results. The purpose of this paper is to explore the issues faced by nurse practitioners (NPs) in collaboration with other stakeholders and to discuss ways to avoid miscommunication.
Collaboration in Primary Care
It is important that with the help of efficient collaboration, the nurse will be able to assess risks and to use the most appropriate methods to ensure high levels of safety and quality of care. For instance, an effective partnership with families of patients and other specialists will allow providing a holistic approach towards care and working as part of the interprofessional team (Brooten, Youngblut, Hannan, & Guido-Sasnz, 2012). To ensure the cooperation with other specialists is successful, it is necessary to learn effective communicational strategies and to instruct other members of the professional team, if necessary. In addition, it is significant to participate actively in discussions, conferences, and other forms of continuous professional development (Sullivan, Kiovsky, Mason, Hill, & Dukes, 2015). Moreover, each NP should demonstrate effective communication with diverse people in accordance with the current situation (Milton, 2013). Also, the formation of collaborative relationships requires the provision of counseling to the patient and his or her family for the preservation and promotion of health. In general, the work in primary care requires cooperation with other specialists, implementation of diagnostics, treatment, and patient care in collaboration with the client’s family, and efficient communication with various social groups.
Challenges
One of the challenges I have faced in the student nurse practitioner role in my practicum was the ineffective collaboration with the medical practitioner. In the course of work, it was revealed that we had differing perceptions of NP’s autonomy as my colleague considered that nurses in this role require no supervision. Another difficulty faced in the practicum was the collaboration with the patient’s family (Milton, 2013). The family regarded NPs as 24-hour healthcare assistants and were reluctant to provide the additional care to the patient required from them. In the first case, the challenge was overcome through exposure to working together with the medical practitioner. The possible miscommunication was avoided with the help of the supervisor who instructed the practitioner on how to supervise student NPs. In this case, the issue was in the individual behavior rather than any other broader context (Clarke & Hassmiller, 2013). However, in the second case, the patient’s family teaching was essential. For example, it was crucial to educate the family on the importance and usefulness of alternative therapy, which can be provided by the family solely and the collaboration barrier was eliminated.
Strategies and Conclusions
The main behavioral strategy to overcome the faced challenge was educating fellow healthcare specialists to avoid miscommunication. In particular, it was essential to raise the medical practitioner’s awareness of my scope of practice and to receive confirmation from the supervisor (Farrell, Payne, & Heye, 2015). In terms of the patient family, the main strategy also lied in communication (Sullivan et al., 2015). Thus, it can be concluded that effective communication is central to the success of the collaboration with the customers, their families, and other health care providers. However, most importantly, the joint work of all main stakeholders will ensure that effective collaboration for better patient outcomes can be achieved.
References
Brooten, D., Youngblut, J. M., Hannan, J., & Guido-Sasnz, F. (2012). The impact of interprofessional collaboration on the effectiveness, significance, and future of advanced practice registered nurses. Nursing Clinics North America, 47, 283-294.
Clarke, P. N., & Hassmiller, S. (2013). Nursing leadership: Interprofessional education and practice. Nursing Science Quarterly, 4, 316-318.
Farrell, K., Payne, C., & Heye, M. (2015). Integrating interprofessional collaboration skills into the advanced practice registered nurse socialization process. Journal of Professional Nursing, 31(1), 5-10.
Milton, C. L. (2013). Ethical issues surrounding interprofessional collaboration. Nursing Science Quarterly, 26, 316-318.
Sullivan, M., Kiovsky, R., Mason, D., Hill, C., & Dukes, C. (2015). Interprofessional collaboration and education. AJN, 115(3), 47–54.