Nursing Collaboration Essay

As we continue our education, working towards attaining our advanced practice nursing (APN) training, it is essential for us as graduate students and future APNs to be collaborative members of our practice. There is an array of literature, not only in the field of nursing that discusses collaboration and its importance. Forbes (2014) for example, has identified eight tips for collaborative leadership to support businesses in excelling. The field of nursing especially highlights collaboration as an essential aspect to providing adequate and competent care to each patient (Hamrick, Tracy, & O’Grady). Additionally, Fewster-Thuente (2015) in their review of literature found, “lack of effective collaboration has been cited as the root cause of over 70% of major medical errors and costs the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services over $4 billion annually.” (p. 356). This is astonishing. Thus, it is vital to define the term collaboration and specifically as it relates to the field of nursing. In this post I will define collaboration in two ways: (a) common and (b) professional use of the word.

Common definition of collaboration

According to the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (2014) to collaborate is “to work jointly with others or together especially in an intellectual endeavor.” (p. 243). Additionally, according to Hamric, Hanson, Tracy, and O’Grady (2014) the term often used in such a way as to describe teamwork or partnership among people or organization. Depending on the field of business the meaning of the same word might and should change in order to direct the organization/field, while at the same time provide the consumer with the best product. Consequently, it is essential to define collaboration from nursing and better yet, APN