Nursing emotion work and interprofessional collaboration in general internal medicine wards: a qualitative study.
OBJECTIVE
This paper is a report of a study to examine nursing emotion work and interprofessional collaboration in order to understand and improve collaborative nursing practice.


BACKGROUND
Nursing standards identify collaborative practice as necessary for quality patient care yet many nurses are often reluctant to participate in interprofessional teams. Strategies intended to improve participation often fail which suggests that the factors underpinning nurses' disinclination towards interprofessional collaboration have yet to be understood. The concept of emotion work has not been applied to nursing interprofessionalism, and holds the potential to improve collaborative practice. Nursing emotion work is defined as the management of the emotions of self and others in order to improve patient care.


METHODS
Qualitative data were collected in 2006 using non-participant observation, shadowing and semi-structured interviews with nursing, medical and allied professionals in the general internal medicine wards of three hospitals in urban Canada.


RESULTS
Nurses' collaborations with other professionals are influenced by emotion work considerations. The establishment and maintenance of a nursing esprit de corps, corridor conflicts with physicians, and the failure of the interdisciplinary team to acknowledge the importance of nursing's core caring values are important factors underpinning nurses' interprofessional disengagement.


CONCLUSIONS
Longstanding emotion work issues must be addressed before nurses will engage collaboratively. We suggest improving nursing collaboration through the refining of holistic nursing information, and reflections on practice by all interprofessional team members.
Miller
Karen-Lee
KL
Candidate Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. karenlee.miller@utoronto.ca
Reeves
Scott
S
Zwarenstein
Merrick
M
Beales
Jennifer D
JD
Kenaszchuk
Chris
C
Conn
Lesley Gotlib
LG
D000488:Allied Health Personnel / Q000523:psychology; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D004644:Emotions; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D009864:Ontario; D010362:Patients' Rooms