Nursing Care Delivery Models and Intraprofessional Collaborative Care: Canadian Nurse Leaders’ Perspectives

Abstract

Introduction There are many different types of nursing care delivery models used to organize and provide care in hospitals. These models are comprised of different organizational structures and staffing skill mixes. Objective The aim of this study was to explore how nursing care delivery models promote intraprofessional collaborative care in acute care hospitals from the perspectives of nurse leaders. Methods A qualitative descriptive approach was used for this study. Telephone interviews were conducted between January 2021 and August 2021 using an interview guide comprised of semi-structured and structured questions. Using a purposeful sampling technique, ten leaders from nine hospital systems, representing both urban and rural hospitals in the province of Ontario, Canada, participated in the study. Content analysis was conducted resulting in two overarching themes. Results The first theme, Fluidity of the Model addresses the flexibility of the models and the impact of contextual factors such as changes in nurses’ scope of practice, government funding changes, staffing mix, and organizational policies and rules. The second theme, Tools of the Trade describes the resources that hospitals implement to promote intraprofessional collaboration that indirectly impacts on patient safety. Conclusion Nursing care delivery models need to be flexible and adaptable. All nursing care delivery models in this study used various tools to promote intraprofessional collaborative care.

How much do we know about nursing care delivery models in a hospital setting? A mapping review

“…On hospitalization wards, an intraprofessional focus on the organization of nursing care is necessary, to find a way to organize nursing care with the available skill mix and nurse staffing. However, new care delivery models should be flexible and adaptable to the continuously changing healthcare environment, stimulating collegiality, team communication, and also interprofessional collaboration (Prentice et al, 2022).…”

Registered Nurses and Practical Nurses Working Together: An Institutional Ethnography

“…Some researchers, who explore nursing scopes of practice, are also interested in different nursing care delivery models, including the mixes of nursing staff or different ratios/numbers of each nursing professional category ( Dubois et al, 2012 ). According to Prentice et al (2022) , “[n]ursing care delivery models refer to the organization and structure of how nursing care is provided” (p. 1). Much of the literature with respect to nursing care delivery models is descriptive in nature and focuses on either the division of biomedical tasks (e.g., administration of medications) or on the model itself (e.g., team-based models; Canadian Nurses Association, 2010 ; Dubois et al, 2012 ).…”

“…Studies that focus on the models themselves often consider the implementation or evaluation of team-based nursing care delivery models. In such models, teams of different categories of nursing professionals work together to complete specific activities for a group of patients ( Prentice et al, 2022 ). Some researchers argue that these team-based structures support collaborative practice.…”

Nurses’ collegiality: An evolutionary concept analysis

“…12,71 It has referred to the process 39 of working together. 76 This required joint efforts to achieve a common purpose or goal and involved individuals who have diverse, yet complimentary, skills and who use an effective communication process. In addition, collaboration has been described as a process among individuals who tend to be informally affiliated professional associates and who actively cooperate, communicate and coordinate their activities to achieve a mutually held goal.…”