Date of Award

6-2011

Document Type

Doctoral Thesis

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Nursing and Healthcare Sciences

First Advisor

Dr. Siobhán Ni Mhaolrúnaigh

Second Advisor

Dr Clare Rigg

Abstract

This thesis presents a study which aimed to develop interprofessional teams to drive organisational change at residential care facilities in order to gain insight into the processes involved, as well as the factors influencing them. It is unrealistic to create a team and expect team members to immediately act in a collaborative way to address team goals, yet the development process has been largely overlooked in the literature. This thesis addresses this gap. Healthcare providers at three residential care facilities for older people were invited to become involved in the study and teams were successfully set up at two facilities. The teams engaged in action research cycles over eight months. Data collection over the action research cycles included field notes, group discussions, interviews, and questionnaires. An examination of the data revealed the development of interprofessional collaboration to be a process involving increasing levels of powersharing, co-generation of knowledge and team psychological safety, where the growth of each fed into the growth of the others. Team psychological safety, which is a team atmosphere of respect, trust and safety, acted as a catalyst in the process. Boundary spanning activities between subgroups within the team and across team boundaries were also vital. The development of interprofessional collaboration was inhibited and propelled by a number of forces originating from inside the team and from the organisational, institutional and economic environment in which the teams were operating. These included management support, organisational culture, market forces, the effectiveness of boundary spanning, team leadership, logistical issues and ingroup identification with subgroups within the team. Implications for practice include the need for acknowledging the importance of team psychological safety and garnering management support at all levels in any attempt to develop interprofessional collaboration within teams.

Access Level

info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

Project Identifier

info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/HEA/TSR Strand 1//IE//

Coverage

July 2024

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