Attitudes of Healthcare Team towards Interprofessional Collaboration

^a Department of Health Services Management, ShK.C., Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord, Iran

^b Department of Nursing, ShK.C. , Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord, Iran

One significant area of concern in healthcare teams under human resource management is fostering of partnership and collaboration. This
is important in promoting standards of professionalism in relationships between professionals in order to boost the quality of health services. In healthcare systems, patients’ needs are usually complicated and thus need intervention from all stakeholders involved in treatment process. However, one of the most significant problems is the absence of teamwork in patient’s treatment and care (Dent et al., 2021). Managers may believe that members of the healthcare profession embrace teamwork, while in real essence they often work alone (Mao & Woolley, 2016). Soininen et al. stressed that all members of the team should participate and intervene, as others jointly participate and intervene (Soininen
et al., 2023).
Healthcare employees in developed nations are in a constant conflict that gets them to use violence. In order to redress this, the emphasis should be made on teamwork/personal and technical competencies (Tang et al., 2013). However, there are authors who have underlined the relevance of the mastery of teamwork competencies (Ericsson, 2014) along with personal and technical ones (Morley & Cashell, 2017). It has been quantitatively demonstrated that healthcare collaboration decrease the personnel length of stay in the hospital (Reeves et al., 2018). Also, it has been discovered that consensus-based decision on patient treatment plan (Ericsson, 2014) has helped to reduce patients’ mortality, prevent drug reactions, optimize medication usage, and help caregivers and clinicians in patients’ treatment plan (Cheng, 2009; Crowley et al., 2020; McCaffrey et al., 2010; Robinson et al., 2010; Rosenstein & O’Daniel, 2005; Tang et al., 2013). Involvement with the treatment, improvements in the use of the EBPs (Reeves et al., 2018), decision-making (Tasri & Tasri, 2020), and innovations (Morley & Cashell, 2017) have been realized at a qualitative level.
Specialists and professionals form a medical team which engages in projects or medical care routines (Meredith et al., 2017). There is a need for all members of the healthcare team to understand each other’s roles and goals at all times (Reeves et al., 2018). These have the added advantage of increased efficiency and innovation, as well as better risk management outcomes (Morley & Cashell, 2017). Moreover, teamwork among healthcare providers may have benefits such as reduced workload and enhanced work satisfaction (Bosch & Mansell, 2015; Plevová et al., 2021).
Organization offers three aspects of opportunity to clients for the team (time, facilities, and space); the possibility to acquire important fragments of knowledge during the study, for instance, the organization of team collaboration through interprofessional practice, patient-centered practice, and the use of appropriate literature referring to each other. Another aspect that should be taken into account is the readiness of members of the team to knit – it concerns psychological predispositions. The systematic review of Dyk et al. documented different challenges towards effective healthcare team collaboration. These include the pragmatic codes of conduct in each of  professions, the institutional regulations, as well as conditions extraneous to work of the team in question, like the physical workspace (Bai et al., 2017; Buljac-Samardzic et al., 2020; Meredith et al., 2017). Even within the ground of the team, there are conditions that can hinder interaction and create a conflict of interest in terms of interest, goals, expectation and experience of members. There can also be sub-ordinate workers in terms of rank, status, payment, etc., which can overshadow the concept of group leadership and cooperation (Park et al., 2021). In addition, a serious problem that has been identified to affect inter-stakeholder working relations is the fact that there are little interprofessional training of healthcare professionals (Homeyer, 2018; Rider et al., 2014).
In fact, some professors and educational planners have acknowledged the importance of the relatively recent innovation of interprofessional education (IPE), as it becomes increasingly critical in healthcare. The World Health Organization highlights that many health graduates lack sufficient knowledge in this area and advocate for interprofessional training and a shift in professional mindsets. Like other societies, our society faces challenges in care quality and safety, primarily due to ineffective teamwork (Behzadifar et al., 2019). Since teamwork is essential for patient care, establishing effective communication among team members is crucial. Studies highlight the benefits of interprofessional collaboration (IPC), including improved cooperation and interaction, especially in partnerships between organizations (Bosch & Mansell, 2015; Mao & Woolley, 2016; Morley & Cashell, 2017). These works compare physicians and nurses’ understanding of integrated relationships (Blue, 2019b; Hojat, 2003; Jasemi et al., 2013). Pakpour et al. established that the collaboration between nurses and physicians improves the satisfaction of nurses in Zanjan (Pakpour et al., 2019). Currently, there is no research in Iran on the perceptions of various players in the multi-disciplinary medical team towards interdisciplinary collaboration. Thus, the purpose of the present study is to identify the attitudes towards IPE among the medical care staff in hospitals affiliated to Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences.
Methods
The current descriptive-analytical study was conducted in 2019. The study statistical population consisted of 1168 medical care workers employed in Hajar and Kashani teaching hospitals affiliated to Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences. The inclusion criteria were having at least an associate's degree and six months of work experience. The exclusion criteria included unwillingness to cooperate, resignation, dismissal, and work transfer. To determine the minimum required sample size, Cochran's formula was utilized.
Z=1.96          P=0. 5      q=0.5      N=1168     d=0.05

n=284
To eliminate any potential bias, we considered 20% more cases than the initial amount, resulting in a total of 342 cases. Out of these, 325 questionnaires were included in the analysis, representing a return rate of 95%. The study employed a stratified random sampling method from October 2019 to June 2020. Participants were selected based on their specialty, including nurses, general practitioners, specialists, operating room experts, anesthesiologists, psychologists, midwives, radiologists, environmental health professionals, laboratory scientists, nutritionists, and pharmacists from the target population.
Data collection was in two parts. In the first part, respondent’s basic information was collected, including gender, age, marital status, work experience, and job content. The second part was the Jefferson Interpersonal Collaboration Inventory Questionnaire that was made up of 20 statements measured based on 7-point Likert scale. The reliability of the Jefferson Interpersonal Collaboration Inventory Questionnaire has been confirmed in studies by Collins et al., Costa Nathália Muricy, and Hojat et al. (Collins et al., 2023; Collins, 2023; Costa Nathália Muricy, 021; Hojat et al., 2015). The questionnaire was translated from English to Persian. Subsequently, it was translated into English by two distinct translators. There was no disparity in the translated and the original forms of the questionnaire. The validity of the questionnaire was established using face and content validity, while  internal consistency was estimated using Cronbach’s alpha and its value was 0. 94. The test-retest was also checked using intra-class correlation coefficient equality, to be at 0. 966 and Pearson correlation coefficient at 0. 875. For variables with a mean score > 3, it can be concluded that the society has a high perception.
During the course of the research, the researcher obtained the necessary license from Shahrekord Islamic Azad University to gather information. Subsequently, they provided the license and coordinated with the management and security of Kashani and Hajar hospitals in Shahrekord. The questionnaires were filled, and the data were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS version 20.

Results

Discussion

Conclusion

Acknowledgments

Conflicts of Interest

The authors stated that there is no conflict of interest in this study.

Funding

Ethical considerations

Code of ethics

Authors' Contributions

Open Access Policy

References