title: Role of care pathways in interprofessional teamwork.
abstract: Cohesive interprofessional teamwork is essential to successful healthcare services. Interprofessional teamwork is the means by which different healthcare professionals - with diverse knowledge, skills and talents - collaborate to achieve a common goal. Several interventions are available to improve teamwork in the healthcare setting. This article explores the role of care pathways in improving interprofessional teamwork. Care pathways enhance teamwork by promoting coordination, collaboration, communication and decision making to achieve optimal healthcare outcomes. They result in improved staff knowledge, communication, documentation and interprofessional relations. Care pathways also contribute to patient-centred care and increase patient satisfaction.
authors.affiliation: Neurology, Canberra Hospital and Health Services, Canberra, Australia.
authors.forename: Minimol Kulakkottu
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Scaria
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D010348:Patient Care Team; D006113:United Kingdom
keywords: care pathways; collaborative practice; communication; interprofessional teamwork; patient-centred care