“Discuss the concept of collaborative working within your professional area” To be able to understand the rationale, the different factors influencing the outcome of collaborative working and how this can be applied to Perioperative practice, it is important to have a sound understanding of the concept “Collaborative Working.” This concept has many terminological variations, one of the more frequently used is “Inter-professional working.”
Hornby and Atkins (2000) state that collaborative working is “a relationship between two or more people, groups or organisations, working together to define and achieve a common purpose.” Barrett et al (2005) declares that inter-professional working is “the process whereby members of different professions and/or agencies work together to provide integrated health and/or social care for the benefit of service users.” Disregarding what is seen as the correct/incorrect terminology, the common denominator here is that all health care staff/ agencies’ are working together to provide the best healthcare possible for patients and service users. There have been many debates about the variation in terminology, Leathard (1994:5) refers to it as “terminological quagmire” that has been created due to rapid developments in practice, and in her analysis of terms, Leathard (1994:6) prefers to use the term multi-professional as it “infers a wider group of professionals.” In this instance the term “Collaborative working” will be used.
Over the years there have been many drivers behind the rationale for collaborative working dating as far back as the 1960’s in the USA, where Henderson (1966) reports that
References: Barret, G, Sellman, D and Thomas. J (2005) Inter-professional working in Health and Social Care: Professional Perspectives. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Coe, R and Gould, D (2008) ‘Disagreement and aggression in the operating theatre.’ Journal of Advanced Nursing. Volume: 61, Issue: 6, Pg: 609-618. Health Professions Council (2008-09) Continuing professional development annual report. [Online] Available at: http://www.hpc-uk.org/publications/reports/ (Accessed: 8 October 2011) Henderson, V (1966) The nature of Nursing: A definition and its implications for practice, research and education. New York. Macmillan. Hornby, S and Atkins, J (2000) Collaborative Care: Inter-professional, interagency and interpersonal. Oxford: Blackwell. Hughes, D (2011) ‘Emergency Surgery patients’ lives at risk, say surgeons.’ BBC news Leathard, A (1994) Going Inter-professional: Working Together for Health and Welfare. London: Routledge. Shields, L and Werder, H (2002) Perioperative Nursing. Cambridge University Press.