Introduction
The modern health care system faces diverse challenges that demand efficient responses to guarantee improved outcomes and promote the further development of care delivery. However, the complexity of problematic issues and the tendency towards their further sophistication introduce a critical need for the integration of different fields of knowledge to provide patients with appropriate care and attain a high-level s of their satisfaction.
That is why the current approach to functioning regarding healthcare includes collaborative work in teams to attain success and suggest patient-centered, safe, and efficient care (Barr, Vania, Randall, & Mulvale, 2017). Thus, the primary goal of this paper is to discuss the concept of interprofessional collaboration and the way it is now being implemented in the healthcare sector. The work also aims at the investigation of contributions of such disciplines as healthcare informatics, nursing, and public health specialists functioning to the development of the concept and the way it could help to improve outcomes. Considering the fact that the desired environmental health outcome is the increased effectiveness of the sphere, improved quality of life, and health of the nation, the concept could help to attain the goal and enhance final results.
Three Disciplines
Nevertheless, interprofessional collaboration implies the close cooperation of related disciplines which means that there are several contributors to the further development of the practice. Thus, public health professionals could be considered one of the central contributors to improved outcomes. First, they provide a wide array of significant services to patients who might need them (Goodwin, 2017). Second, they precondition enhanced outcomes by engaging in the treatment process and guaranteeing the delivery of appropriate care to all patients that might need it. In this regard, public health professionals foster cooperation between different disciplines within the interprofessional collaboration by guaranteeing careful investigation of diverse cases and diagnosing (Huq, Reay, & Chreim, 2016). Moreover, regarding the desired environmental health outcome which is the gradual increase of the quality of the health of the nation, their functioning becomes fundamental.
The second discipline is related to the concept of interprofessional collaboration in nursing. In the current healthcare sector, it remains the fundamental area of knowledge focused on the care of individuals or diverse communities for these to recover or preserve their high quality of lives (Engel & Prentice, 2013). Their scope of practice is different from the authorities of other health workers and remains unique (Ewashen, McInnis-Perry, & Murphy, 2013). In fact, these specialists provide care in different settings to numerous patients collecting critical information and processing it to guarantee the enhanced outcomes. For this reason, nurses become one of the main actors who contribute to the further improvement of the interprofessional collaboration and achieving the goal of the enhanced state of the health of the nation and peoples quality of life.
The third important discipline related to the concept is healthcare informatics. The fact is that modern society could be characterized as a digitalized one. It means that technologies are an integral part of our society. They contribute to the improved outcomes and increased efficiency of different processes. For this reason, it becomes critical to implement knowledge from this sphere into the field of healthcare to attain improved results. Today, healthcare informatics uses health information technology (HIT) to improve health outcomes through the combination of high quality, efficiency, and innovative practices (Prentice, Engel, & Taplay, 2015). In this regard, this discipline provides public health professionals and nurses with new approaches to assist patients in their recovery. It is one of the fundamental activities regarding the need to face challenges and solve problems most efficiently to contribute to the better quality of peoples lives.
Discussion
In general, the concept of interprofessional collaborative practice becomes one of the distinctive traits of the modern discourse within healthcare. The gradual increase in the complexity of challenges caregivers face today demands an efficient response. However, a specialist is not able to remain informed in all spheres of knowledge. For this reason, an interprofessional education as the way to support a new vision on how to overcome the challenge mentioned above emerged (Engel & Prentice, 2013). It is aimed at the further development of the practice and training specialists for them to understand the need for collaboration and its nature. The fact is that interprofessional practice means not only working together but also presupposes a commitment to a new operational framework that should be created by joint efforts from specialists working in different fields (Schwartz & Conklin, 2014).
For this reason, discussing the idea, it is crucial to note its outstanding contribution to the further evolution of the public health system. A specialist working in the sphere admits the necessity to ensure the successful integration of innovative tools, resources, and technology to create an environment beneficial for the further development of interprofessional collaboration and improved outcomes (Milton, 2013). In this regard, the use of the approach will obviously help to attain the enhanced efficiency of the healthcare sector by creating a new innovative setting that will help to align a system of patient-centered care that will consider the most important requirements and guarantee their satisfaction. Its contributions include better cooperation with patients, between caregivers, and different departments within a particular health unit.
Application
Nevertheless, revolving around the above-mentioned aspects of the concept and disciplines related to its successful implementation, the Donadebian Model could be chosen as an appropriate approach for the process. First, the appropriate structure includes the cooperation between public health specialists, nurses, and health informatics with the primary aim to guarantee a comprehensive investigation of every case and its meaningful details (Gregory & Austin, 2016). In such a way, every patient who might need particular care should be assessed using a new approach that includes innovative practices suggested by health informatics and collaboration between nurses and public health specialists. The given method will obviously contribute to the improved outcomes by guaranteeing the enhanced ability to satisfy all diverse needs and choose the most efficient treatment (Samuelson et al., 2012). Finally, evaluation of outcomes might help to prove the efficiency of the interprofessional practice and its positive impact on the quality of care delivery, final results, and patients satisfaction.
Conclusion
Altogether, the concept of interprofessional collaboration and practice becomes one of the fundamental aspects of the modern healthcare sector. It means that specialists should be ready to engage in specific cooperation aiming at the creation of a completely new framework that will provide caregivers with an opportunity to manage an increased diversity of cases. The interprofessional collaboration includes the close participation of disciplines crucial for the further evolution of the healthcare sphere like nursing, healthcare informatics, and public health professionals. The combination of these three elements will create the basis for the further development and enhanced efficiency of the approach. However, the implementation of the concept demands the creation of a specific framework that provides beneficial conditions for health workers to engage in collaboration and attain success.
References
Barr, N., Vania, D., Randall, G., & Mulvale, G. (2017). Impact of information and communication technology on interprofessional collaboration for chronic disease management: a systematic review. Journal of Health Services Research & Policy, 22(4), 250-257. Web.
Goodwin, N. (2017). How important is information and communication technology in enabling interprofessional collaboration? Journal of Health Services Research & Policy, 22(4), 202-203. Web.
Gregory, P., & Austin, Z. (2016). Trust in interprofessional collaboration: Perspectives of pharmacists and physicians. Canadian Pharmacists Journal, 149(4), 236-245. Web.
Engel, J., & Prentice, D. (2013). The ethics of interprofessional collaboration. Nursing Ethics, 20(4), 426-435. Web.
Ewashen, C., McInnis-Perry, G., & Murphy, N. (2013). Interprofessional collaboration-in-practice: The contested place of ethics. Nursing Ethics, 20(3), 325-335. Web.
Huq, J., Reay, R., & Chreim, S. (2016). Protecting the paradox of interprofessional collaboration. Organization Studies, 38(3), 513-538. Web.
Milton, C. (2013). Ethical issues surrounding interprofessional collaboration. Nursing Science Quarterly, 26(4), 316-138. Web.
Prentice, D., Engel, J., & Taplay, K. (2015). Interprofessional collaboration: The experience of nursing and medical students’ interprofessional education. Global Qualitative Nursing Research. Web.
Samuelson, M., Tedeschi, P., Aarendonk, D., de la Cuesta, C., & Groenwegen, P. (2012). Improving interprofessional collaboration in primary care: Position paper of the European Forum for Primary Care. Quality in Primary Care, 20(4), 303-312. Web.
Schwartz, R., & Conklin, J. (2014). Competing paradigms: Exploring dialogue to promote interprofessional collaboration and transformation. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 51(4), 479-500. Web.