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Collaborative practice: the nurse practitioner's role in its success or failure.
1Family Primary Care Clinical Specialty Program, University of California School of Nursing, San Francisco.
The Nurse Practitioner
|May 1, 1988
Summary
Family nurse practitioners and physicians in joint practice often exhibit communication patterns supporting physician dominance. Achieving mutual understanding requires self-reflection, goal clarification, and commitment to collaborative interaction.
Area of Science:
- Healthcare Professional Collaboration
- Interprofessional Dynamics
- Family Nurse Practitioner-Physician Joint Practice
Background:
- Joint practice relationships between family nurse practitioners and physicians are increasingly common.
- Understanding the dynamics of these interprofessional relationships is crucial for effective healthcare delivery.
- Existing literature often lacks in-depth analysis of the communication patterns and underlying values within these partnerships.
Purpose of the Study:
- To critically analyze the values, beliefs, and behaviors influencing joint practice relationships between family nurse practitioners and physicians.
- To explore the interactional patterns and communication styles within these partnerships.
- To identify factors that facilitate or hinder mutual understanding and effective collaboration.
Main Methods:
- Qualitative study involving 18 family nurse practitioners and physicians in joint practice.
- Semi-structured interviews conducted separately and in pairs.
- Data validation through participant review of transcribed interviews and data summaries.
Main Results:
- Nurse participants' language, values, and behaviors often reinforced the physician's dominant position.
- Nurses exhibited distorted communication and non-meaningful interactions in several instances.
- A few practices demonstrated potential for mutual understanding and effective collaboration.
Conclusions:
- Achieving effective collaboration requires conscious effort from both nurse practitioners and physicians.
- Key steps include self-reflection, goal clarification, and open examination of interactional patterns.
- Cultivating a commitment to mutual understanding and sustained communication is essential for successful joint practice.