Development Of Collaborative Practice Research Articles

Creating the conditions for growth: a collaborative practice development programme for clinical nurse leaders

To evaluate a 3-year practice development (PD) programme for clinical nurse leaders. The development of effective leaders is a key objective to progress the modernization agenda. This programme aimed to develop the participants alongside development of the culture and context of care. Programme evaluation methodology to determine the 'worth' of the programme, inform the experience of the participation, effect on workplace cultures and determine effectiveness of the process used. Created the conditions for growth under two broad themes: process outcomes demonstrating growth as leaders contributing to cultural shifts; and general outcomes demonstrating practice changes. Developing communities of reflective leaders are required to meet demands within contemporary healthcare. PD provides a model to develop leaders to achieve sustainable changes and transform practice. Active collaboration and participation of managers is crucial in the facilitation of and sustainability of cultural change. Approaches adopted to develop and sustain the transformation of practice need to focus on developing the skills and attributes of leaders and managers as facilitators.

‘Teaching an old dog new tricks’: A practice development approach to organizational change in mental health

AbstractPractice development is widely described as: ‘ways in which knowledge and skills development is used to provide better patient care’. This article will outline a mental health units approach and experience of implementing collaborative practice development processes which identify values and beliefs and enable the development of a framework of action to effect positive change. A qualitative participatory action research design was used to engage participants in exploring and critiquing relevant workplace culture issues. The project was divided into four chronological stages: values clarification; claims, concerns and issues; barriers, enablers and actions; and action planning. The results of this project highlight a number of issues for practice development approaches. We believe that these processes are easily transferable to other organizations within health care. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Personal Knowledge Management: A Tool to Expand Knowledge about Human Cognitive Capabilities

Knowledge Management programs are typically tied to organisational objectives such as improved performance, competitive advantage, innovation, developmental processes, lessons learnt transfer (for example between projects) and the general development of collaborative practices. Knowledge Management is frequently linked and related to what has become known as the learning organisation, lifelong learning and continuous improvement. Knowledge Management may be distinguished from Organisational Learning by a greater focus on the management of knowledge as an asset and the development and cultivation of the channels through which knowledge, information and signal flow.This paper discusses the issues related to Personal knowledge management (PKM).PKM is a label for the effort to integrate personal information management (PIM), focused on individual skills, with knowledge management (KM). Understanding the organizational perspective has been developed in light of expanding knowledge about human cognitive capabilities and the permeability of organizational boundaries.

‘Where are we now?’ A process for evaluating the context of care in practice development

AbstractThis is the second article in which we share the processes used during the action cycles of a collaborative practice development (PD) programme with the focus of developing clinical nurse leaders to develop practice. The focus for this particular action cycle of the programme was ‘changes to clinical care received by service users and to the context of care delivery’. This article presents an overview of the activity cycles that took place to enable the clinical leaders to evaluate culture, context and existing practice in their units, and then to move practice forward towards their visions for the future.The activities initiated and employed in this PD programme have enabled the participating clinical leaders to evaluate practice, and identify and implement practice changes in a bid to move towards transforming the culture and context of care in their individual practice setting. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

An exploratory analysis of an interprofessional learning environment in two hospital clinical teaching units

An analysis of a teaching environment with regard to interprofessional practice was done using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Medical, nursing and other health professional staff and students from two hospital units (medical and surgical) completed two surveys. The students were also interviewed. Staff differed in survey results among disciplines, with nurses and other health professionals having a more positive view of interprofessional collaboration than physicians. Student interviews supported our hypothesis that little formal or informal interprofessional education occurred during clinical rotations. Students had little understanding of the nature of collaborative behavior, and appeared to learn their discipline's attitudes and practices through tacit observation of staff behaviors. This appears to reinforce disciplinary stereotypes, and may be a significant barrier to the development of collaborative practice. These results have implications for the design of interprofessional curriculum in clinical practicums.

The roles of specialist provision for children with specific speech and language difficulties in England and Wales: a model for inclusion?

Children with specific speech and language difficulties pose a challenge to the education and health systems. In addition to their language difficulties they are also at risk of literacy and social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. The main support for children with more severe difficulties has been enhanced provision in mainstream schools (language units or integrated resources) and special schools. The move to an inclusive education system challenges this tradition. This paper reports the results of interviews with heads of language units/integrated resources and head teachers of special schools (n = 57) as part of a larger study within England and Wales. Their views are considered with reference to criteria for entry to specialist provision, the development of collaborative practice between teachers, teaching assistants and speech and language therapists, and the implications for inclusive education.

The nature of the discourse in web-based Collaborative Learning Environments: Case studies from four different countries

The present paper describes a series of case studies of collaborative learning supported by two web-based learning environments: Synergeia2 and FLE3. The case studies were conducted in Finland, Greece, Italy, and the Netherlands as a part of international project called Innovative Technologies for Collaborative Learning. The general aim of this investigation was to examine the cases in a detailed way, and to find possible indications that might explain success and difficulties related to implementation of web-based Collaborative Learning Environments. The specific aims of the present study were to investigate the nature of the students’ and teachers’ computer-mediated discourse, whether and to what extent the students and teachers actually used the knowledge types in Synergeia2 and FLE3-environments (resembling CSILE’s thinking types); and finally, to what extent the use of knowledge types was connected to the content of knowledge produced by the students and the teachers. The results showed considerable differences in the nature of the discourse and difficulties in students’ labelling of their own notes. It is suggested that the adoption and development of collaborative practices takes time: collaborative learning in web-based environments is best organized around long-lasting learning activities; instead of weeks, whole academic terms. Further, it is underlined that the selection of good sets of knowledge types is important. Software must allow teachers to construct appropriate sets of knowledge types.

Going Dutch: The Development of Collaborative Practices Between Higher Education and Museums and Galleries

This study reports on a very successful collaboration between teacher education courses in Manchester and Amsterdam and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. The central aim of the initiative was to promote and sustain partnerships between Higher Education (HE) institutions, public galleries and schools with a view to developing, delivering and sharing good practice in art and design within a European context.

Contexts for collaboration in healthcare education

In recent years, the drive towards cost-effectiveness and efficiency, coupled with radical changes in healthcare education, have resulted in an increased need for collaboration, both at the interpersonal and institutional levels. Such collaborations were once regarded primarily as pragmatic ventures. Increasingly, however, there are reports of these collaborations yielding tangible benefits, both in terms of curriculum innovation and reconceptualization of the educational process. This paper draws upon some recent examples from the literature to examine the nature of collaborative partnerships in healthcare education. In particular, it discusses the development of collaborative practices and identifies diverse contexts (such as the sharing of resources and the integration of computer technologies in the curriculum) in which these practices evolve. This paper brings to the front changes that are triggered by collaborative initiatives, and highlights lessons learned for successful collaborations.

Achieving interprofessional working in mental health.

Interprofessional collaboration in health care has been high on the political agenda in recent years. However, despite several government reports, progress has been relatively slow. Several structural and organisational challenges need to be addressed, alongside the development of valid research in this field, to accelerate the pace of change. This article describes how interprofessional education, in conjunction with service initiatives, offers a way forward for the development of collaborative practice based on users' and carers' needs.