Role Clarification Processes for Better Integration of Nurse Practitioners into Primary Healthcare Teams: A Multiple-Case Study

Role clarity is a crucial issue for effective interprofessional collaboration. Poorly defined roles can become a source of conflict in clinical teams and reduce the effectiveness of care and services delivered to the population. Our objective in this paper is to outline processes for clarifying prof...

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Main Authors: Isabelle Brault, Kelley Kilpatrick, Danielle D’Amour, Damien Contandriopoulos, Véronique Chouinard, Carl-Ardy Dubois, Mélanie Perroux, Marie-Dominique Beaulieu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2014-01-01
Series:Nursing Research and Practice
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/170514
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author Isabelle Brault
Kelley Kilpatrick
Danielle D’Amour
Damien Contandriopoulos
Véronique Chouinard
Carl-Ardy Dubois
Mélanie Perroux
Marie-Dominique Beaulieu
author_facet Isabelle Brault
Kelley Kilpatrick
Danielle D’Amour
Damien Contandriopoulos
Véronique Chouinard
Carl-Ardy Dubois
Mélanie Perroux
Marie-Dominique Beaulieu
author_sort Isabelle Brault
collection DOAJ
description Role clarity is a crucial issue for effective interprofessional collaboration. Poorly defined roles can become a source of conflict in clinical teams and reduce the effectiveness of care and services delivered to the population. Our objective in this paper is to outline processes for clarifying professional roles when a new role is introduced into clinical teams, that of the primary healthcare nurse practitioner (PHCNP). To support our empirical analysis we used the Canadian National Interprofessional Competency Framework, which defines the essential components for role clarification among professionals. A qualitative multiple-case study was conducted on six cases in which the PHCNP role was introduced into primary care teams. Data collection included 34 semistructured interviews with key informants involved in the implementation of the PHCNP role. Our results revealed that the best performing primary care teams were those that used a variety of organizational and individual strategies to carry out role clarification processes. From this study, we conclude that role clarification is both an organizational process to be developed and a competency that each member of the primary care team must mobilize to ensure effective interprofessional collaboration.
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publisher Wiley
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series Nursing Research and Practice
spelling doaj-art-d57b02f701544e3993bebcb288bfd7be2025-08-20T03:19:47ZengWileyNursing Research and Practice2090-14292090-14372014-01-01201410.1155/2014/170514170514Role Clarification Processes for Better Integration of Nurse Practitioners into Primary Healthcare Teams: A Multiple-Case StudyIsabelle Brault0Kelley Kilpatrick1Danielle D’Amour2Damien Contandriopoulos3Véronique Chouinard4Carl-Ardy Dubois5Mélanie Perroux6Marie-Dominique Beaulieu7Faculty of Nursing, University of Montreal, P.O. Box 6128, Centre-Ville Station, Montreal, QC, H3C 3J7, CanadaFaculty of Nursing, University of Montreal, P.O. Box 6128, Centre-Ville Station, Montreal, QC, H3C 3J7, CanadaFaculty of Nursing, University of Montreal, P.O. Box 6128, Centre-Ville Station, Montreal, QC, H3C 3J7, CanadaFaculty of Nursing, University of Montreal, P.O. Box 6128, Centre-Ville Station, Montreal, QC, H3C 3J7, CanadaFaculty of Nursing, University of Montreal, P.O. Box 6128, Centre-Ville Station, Montreal, QC, H3C 3J7, CanadaFaculty of Nursing, University of Montreal, P.O. Box 6128, Centre-Ville Station, Montreal, QC, H3C 3J7, CanadaUniversity of Montreal Public Health Research Institute, P.O. Box 6128, Centre-Ville Station, Montreal, QC, H3C 3J7, CanadaDepartment of Family Medicine and Emergency Medicine, University of Montreal, CRCHUM, Saint-Antoine Tower, 850 St. Denis Street, Room S03-284, Montreal, QC, H2X 0A9, CanadaRole clarity is a crucial issue for effective interprofessional collaboration. Poorly defined roles can become a source of conflict in clinical teams and reduce the effectiveness of care and services delivered to the population. Our objective in this paper is to outline processes for clarifying professional roles when a new role is introduced into clinical teams, that of the primary healthcare nurse practitioner (PHCNP). To support our empirical analysis we used the Canadian National Interprofessional Competency Framework, which defines the essential components for role clarification among professionals. A qualitative multiple-case study was conducted on six cases in which the PHCNP role was introduced into primary care teams. Data collection included 34 semistructured interviews with key informants involved in the implementation of the PHCNP role. Our results revealed that the best performing primary care teams were those that used a variety of organizational and individual strategies to carry out role clarification processes. From this study, we conclude that role clarification is both an organizational process to be developed and a competency that each member of the primary care team must mobilize to ensure effective interprofessional collaboration.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/170514
spellingShingle Isabelle Brault
Kelley Kilpatrick
Danielle D’Amour
Damien Contandriopoulos
Véronique Chouinard
Carl-Ardy Dubois
Mélanie Perroux
Marie-Dominique Beaulieu
Role Clarification Processes for Better Integration of Nurse Practitioners into Primary Healthcare Teams: A Multiple-Case Study
Nursing Research and Practice
title Role Clarification Processes for Better Integration of Nurse Practitioners into Primary Healthcare Teams: A Multiple-Case Study
title_full Role Clarification Processes for Better Integration of Nurse Practitioners into Primary Healthcare Teams: A Multiple-Case Study
title_fullStr Role Clarification Processes for Better Integration of Nurse Practitioners into Primary Healthcare Teams: A Multiple-Case Study
title_full_unstemmed Role Clarification Processes for Better Integration of Nurse Practitioners into Primary Healthcare Teams: A Multiple-Case Study
title_short Role Clarification Processes for Better Integration of Nurse Practitioners into Primary Healthcare Teams: A Multiple-Case Study
title_sort role clarification processes for better integration of nurse practitioners into primary healthcare teams a multiple case study
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/170514
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