Introduction
Nurses are trained to function in different settings. Their competencies imply that they can furnish exemplary healthcare services to their clients. The contemporary setting in the industry requires that colleagues cooperate to produce better results and address the needs of patients in a more comprehensive way. Apart from that, nurses should execute autonomy to be flexible with patients and be able to supervise other employees.
The positive aspects of professional collaboration evidence the need to comprehend the improvements that should be done for the multidisciplinary teams to function as effectively as possible. Overall, the concept of multidisciplinary teams is viewed as a joint work of healthcare professionals coming from different disciplines aimed at achieving better outcomes and providing high-quality care. However, despite the positive nursing and patient results, this practice can bring experts in the field who have mentioned that it is essential to overview the best evidence-based practices to redefine the meaning of nursing collaborations.
The purpose of the proposed research is to suggest a new model for implementing the concept of multidisciplinary teams. The research questions that will drive the proposed study include the question about how multidisciplinary teams improve care delivery processes and what the implications for their functioning in a modern setting are. Apart from that, it is essential to determine the additions that can be made to develop powerful teams. Variables will be determined based on these questions.
Theoretical Framework
It should be stressed that the proposed research will concentrate on the best approaches that can be used to apply the concept of multidisciplinary teams in the current healthcare setting. Due to the fact that this topic is acute, the body of existing knowledge will make it possible to rely on the experience of organizations that have already started implementing this concept and intertwine it with the guidelines promoted by experts in the field.
Therefore, to identify the characteristics of a good interdisciplinary team and the approaches that make it multifunctional, it will be necessary to review the existing literature on the topic to examine the positive results and dwell upon experiences that can be used for developing the best practices (Kuckartz, 2013). To explore the concept under investigation, qualitative content analysis will be helpful. It will allow the researcher to fuse the data and information sources to provide a comprehensive framework for further consideration. The rationale for choosing the particular framework lies in the fact that it will enable proposing evidence-based strategies to maintain effective multidisciplinary work.
Review of Literature
Theorists determine multidisciplinary work as a process, which engages various staff members in a joint activity. It is done to enable specialists to share their knowledge and expertise, exchange ideas and assumptions, and complement the skills of each other (Epstein, 2014). This compilation enables staff to impact on the process of care provision both directly and indirectly. However, as stated by Ndoro (2014), although multidisciplinary teams attain the growing interest from the side of experts and researchers, the educational system is not fully adapted to provide specialists with the necessary skills and knowledge for effective collaboration with other experts.
Apart from that, Nester (2016) has stressed that multidisciplinary teams face a number of obstacles that can affect their performance. For instance, such factors as the multifactorial character of work, the environment, relationships between specialists, and their individual features, leadership, and organizational culture influence collaboration to a significant degree. It implies that specialists should be not only professionally equipped, but they also should possess certain interpersonal skills to be able to function effectively in multiple works and cultural settings since cooperation, as a rule, presupposes the interaction between various cultures.
It is essential to note that a profound research has already been performed to design interventions aimed at enhancing interdisciplinary collaboration. However, as stated by Epstein (2014), they center around such aspects of work as dissemination of patient information, discussion of cases, and periodicity of collaboration. Nevertheless, the scope of activities should be broader since they encompass the entire faculty. Thus, the author assumes that the concept of a multidisciplinary team engages both professional and non-professional parties.
Hartgerink et al. (2014) have identified that positive outcomes of multidisciplinary collaboration can be observed at three levels. They are the level of professionals, clients, and organizations. Importantly, these results have a direct influence on employee content, quality of care provision, expenditures, and staff perceptions. All these factors affect each other and contribute to employee retention, which is another critical topic within the healthcare industry.
Apart from that, it is crucial mention that the authors have identified some indicators of productive work (Hartgerink et al., 2014). These factors include personal traits and dedication of employees, communication between individuals, and the possibility for employees to embrace their creativity when cooperating with others. These important indicators will guide the development of the new model for effective multidisciplinary teams.
Methodology
The proposed study will be qualitative in character since it will allow the researcher to dwell upon in-depth insights into multidisciplinary work. Also, this kind of research will allow studying the issue by accumulating data and consistently leading it to hypotheses due to inductive conclusions (Kuckartz, 2013). Moreover, given the nature of the proposed study, this design will allow the researcher to modify questions in accordance with the new results that will appear in the course of investigation.
The study design for the proposed paper will be a systematic review of literature on the topic under analysis. To carry out this study, the researcher will select multiple articles from medical and nursing databases. Quantitative studies that are no older than 5-7 years will be reviewed. It is important that only randomized controlled trials will be selected in the first place. The purpose of analyzing these articles will be to gain an understanding of different multidisciplinary staffing models, which have proved to be effective.
To expand the results, bibliography entries will also be examined, and appropriate articles evaluating the outcomes of interprofessional collaboration will be selected (Kuckartz, 2013). The search results will be refined to choose articles written in English and to avoid occurrences when authors name similar phenomena or domains differently due to translation errors. Moreover, the texts will be refined to recognize the significance of cultural factors in cooperation.
In general, it is assumed that 100 articles are a sufficient number of studies to carry out the current research. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses can also be considered to support the findings. However, it will be crucial to ensure that these articles have sufficient contextual details (Kuckartz, 2013). The articles will be examined on such essential topics as team processes, negotiation, leadership, and other concepts, which have been discussed in the previous section. Notably, since a systematic review of literature will be conducted, no consent forms or other formal documents to secure the rights of individuals will be needed. Nevertheless, it will be essential to analyze these factors, as well as limitations, sampling size, inclusion criteria and other aspects, when selecting the appropriate textual evidence.
Data Analysis
As noted above, in order to answer the proposed research questions and formulate a new model for the implementation of the concept of multidisciplinary teams, a content analysis will be conducted (Kuckartz, 2013). A comparative method will be used to isolate analytical topics and select descriptive characteristics for each of them. When selecting categories, it is necessary to avoid choosing too many issues, as well as those ones that can be overly general, as this can lead to a superficial analysis. In addition, an important goal during the categorization will be to determine the missing elements in the articles since they will be significant for the subsequent formation of the new model.
After the categories are formalized, it will be crucial to choose the correct unit of analysis, which will serve as an indicator of the phenomena of interest. Based on these categories and descriptive characteristics, a table with key aspects of the formation and functioning of interdisciplinary teams will be formed (Kuckartz, 2013). It will be the main working tool on the basis of which a new model will be proposed. The table will be a system of coordinated categories in which each aspect will be explained through a number of characteristics.
Applicability to Nursing
Thus, it can be concluded that the research focuses on a problem significant to nursing since it will allow resolving multiple issues faced by organizations which are connected to high employee turnover and burnout. The study will contribute to nursing knowledge as it will suggest a model that will summarize the most successful cooperation and communication strategies to be employed by interprofessional teams (Ndoro, 2014).
Also, it will analyze the barriers that exist at present, which hinder the effectiveness of such teams. However, most importantly, the study will formulate recommendations and guidelines discussed in a uniform model to improve the functioning of multidisciplinary teams, the cultural aspects that should be considered, and the particular methods to establish powerful teams in almost any healthcare environment.
Notably, any other researcher can easily replicate the proposed study since it follows a standard and convenient method of carrying out a qualitative investigation. The proposed paper will put together the existing evidence to project a new approach for establishing multifunctional teams. It is assumed that multiple areas of nursing would benefit from this study (for instance, ambulatory care and advanced practice nursing, medical case management, and so on) (Ndoro, 2014). Apart from professionals delivering acute care to patients, hospital administrators and supportive departments will perceive advantages as well. Therefore, both professional and non-professional parties will experience the benefits of multidisciplinary teams.
References
Epstein, N. E. (2014). Multidisciplinary in-hospital teams improve patient outcomes: A review. Surgical Neurology International, 5(7), S295-S303.
Hartgerink, J. M., Cramm, J. M., Bakker, T. J. E. M., van Eijsden, A. M., Mackenbach, J. P., & Nieboer, A. P. (2014) The importance of multidisciplinary teamwork and team climate for relational coordination among teams delivering care to older patients. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 70(4), 791-799.
Kuckartz, U. (2013). Qualitative text analysis: A guide to methods, practice and using software. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Ndoro, S. (2014). Effective multidisciplinary working: The key to high-quality care. British Journal of Nursing, 23(13), 724-727.
Nester, J. (2016). The importance of interprofessional practice and education in the era of accountable care. North Carolina Medical Journal, 77(2), 128-132.