Running head: INTER-PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION

Inter-Professional Communication and Collaboration

Assignment 1: ICP Interview Written Paper

Dara Yastrzemski

SUNY Delhi

NURS-604-11465-201809

Kirsty Digger

9/19/18
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Abstract

There are four main competencies in the inter-professional education collaborative. In my

interview with Hilary Pope, LCSW-R, we discussed these four core competencies and detailed

her professional experiences with values and ethics, roles/responsibilities, inter-professional

communication, and inter-professional teamwork/team-based care. Inter-professional

collaboration focuses on patient and family across the full spectrum of care. Inter-professional

practice incorporates the working with other professionals to maintain the shared values of all

clinicians. Roles of the social worker involved use of personal knowledge of one's role and those

of the team to give a holistic care for patients. Inter-professional communication includes

patients, families, and others on the health care team for an organized approach to care. Inter-

professional teamwork applies relationship building and creating trust within the healthcare

modalities used to deliver informed decisions on patient-centered care. These are the main points

of the interview and discussion of the role of the social worker within the ICP framework of core

competencies.
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Inter-Professional Communication and Collaboration

There is an increasing trend in healthcare for more complete inclusion of inter-professional

collaborative health care teams. Collaborative methods bring together various health care

providers to deliver team-based care. There are many factors that can improve or discourage

success in the collaborative setting. In my inter-professional collaboration interview, I chose to

interview Hilary Pope, LCSW-R. Hilary is a private therapist and SBHC (school based health

clinic) mental health provider within a local rural school district. A LCSW-R is a licensed

clinical social worker with a psychotherapy "R" privilege. Hilary has been in private practice for

over 18 years and is recognized in New York State as a reimbursable psychotherapist.

Maintaining Professional Scope of Practice

Hilary completed her education at the University of Albany and holds certifications in grief

and crisis counseling. She maintains her LCSW-R by completing 36 hours of acceptable formal

continuing education units (CEU) during each three-year registration period (NYSED, 2017).

She utilizes various on-line sites, such as the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) for

approved CEUs and other vital information regarding her profession.

Professional Shared Values and Ethics-Competency 1

During the interview, Hilary and I discussed the commitment to shared values among both her

social work and inter-professional colleagues. The social workers primary goal is to enhance the

client's well-being and to assist in meeting their basic needs. Hilary and her co-workers strive to

be open to cultural and ethnic diversity and struggle to end many social injustices. Hilary has

encountered many aspects of her profession that test these values, but has also found that with

multidisciplinary teams she has worked with, this value is a core believe, and one in which the
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whole team fosters the same beliefs. This core belief system has allowed for trusting

relationships, creating a holistic approach that includes patients and team members

(Interprofessional Education Collaborative, 2016). Hilary also went on to explain that ethically,

as in all healthcare, social workers believe confidentiality is law and releases of information must

be obtained prior to sharing any patient information. It is necessary that each client be made

aware of their rights, as well as on-going dialogue about confidentiality, in a good practice. In

instances where sharing information would benefit the client's overall health, she encourages

discussion, but ultimate respect of privacy is priority. Practicing this pledge of confidentiality

maintains the dignity and privacy of patients and contributes to building team-based care

(Interprofiessional Education Collaboration, 2016).

Role Clarification

As we discussed Hilary's role as the social worker, it became clear that it takes an acute sense

of self-awareness to recognize other's roles as well. This inter-professional role clarification

comes about as there are more shared educational opportunities with colleagues to distinguish

individual roles. Team members are encouraged to learn from each other and engage within

clinician roles to support the dynamics in collaborative settings. Hilary also spoke of some

difficulties regarding actual location of providers. When she is collaborating with providers, they

may not be on site. She finds this difficult for herself and other team members to really hone in

on issues that can arise in treatment. This deters the team from reaching the goals of the patient

care and can cause delays, as there is often role confusion and breaks in communications.

Team Dynamics-Competency 4

Team dynamics are important because they assist the group in relating to one another. In the

interview, Hilary explained that building group dynamics takes time and effort. Each clinician
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brings their own skills and individual perspectives that build upon systems and subsets of patient

care. Hilary described an experience where she found the medical team to have tunnel-vision and

lacked focus on the social and behavioral health issues. She used her role to bring in the family

context and intergrade her skillset in behavioral health to optimize this patient's outcomes. Once

the team realized that a team-based care approach can intergrade both medical and behavioral

healthcare teams to treat any medical concerns, whilst treating the family dynamics, they could

focus on a plan of care that combined both modalities.

Collaborative Communication

In my interview with Hilary, we spent a great deal of time talking about the importance of

communication in collaboration. As I mentioned in my topic of team dynamics, Hilary's

experience with medical clinicians resulting in a tunnel-vision that was truly a result of poor

communications. I noticed while we were speaking, that Hilary had a style of communicating

through action. When I asked her if she felt this was an effective form of team communications,

she explained that this was her way of defining her role within the team. She explained that the

erosion of communications within the team usually occurred when the team fails to see the

vision of the care. Hilary again mentioned that she would rely on her professional integrity and

values that as a social worker she brings to the team. This is an example of Competency 3 of the

ICP (Interprofessional Collaborative Practice, 2016).

Team Building-Competency 2

As Hilary stated to me, team building comprises of many elements. A collaborative practice

was one where she had studied in school. Hilary prides herself on facilitating inter-professional

collaboration. She brings her code of values and ethics instilled in the social worker code of

conduct and uses that as her base to build her practice. It is a barometer for her work with other
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clinicians. She brings an advocacy that may not necessarily be the same focus as the other team

members, but she feels this brings a certain clarity of her role and allows for a clearer vision on

decision making and incorporating the teams needs for the patient.

Conclusion

In my nursing career, I have collaborated with other team members for a more holistic

approach to patient-centered care. In my interview with Hilary, I discovered that what I was

practicing in the past could be so much more. I learned that to truly collaborate with others, I

must first understand my role. I understand that this collaboration is a continuum in that it is a

constant learning process. What I take away from this assignment are the core competencies of

the ICP that I can use to guide my own education for better serving my future patients and

colleagues.
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References

Association of Social Work Boards. (2018). Continuing competence. Retrieved from

https://www.aswb.org/licensees/continuing-education/

Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaboration. (2010). A national interprofessional

competency framework. Retrieved from

https://www.cihc.ca/files/CIHC_IPCompetencies_Feb1210.pdf

Interprofessional Education Collaboration. (2016). Core competencies for interprofessional

collaborative practice: 2016 update. Washington, DC: Interprofessional Education

Collaboration

Interprofessional Professionalism Collaborative. (2006). What is interprofessional

professionalism? Retrieved from http://www.interprofessionalprofessionalism.org/

NYSED (2017). Questions and answers for licensed master social workers and licensed

clinical social workers. New York State Education Office of the Professionals. Retrieved

from http://www.op.nysed.gov/prof/sw/swcefaq.htm
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Hilary Pope, LCSW-R

hilaryfpope@gmail.com

Question 1: How do you maintain competence in your profession to maintain your scope of
practice?

Question 2: How do you work with individuals of other professions to maintain a climate of
mutual respect and shared values?

Question 3: How do you use your knowledge of your own role and those of other
professions to appropriately assess and address the health care needs of patients and to
promote and advance the health of populations.?

Question 4: How do those in your profession and other fields collaborate and integrate
clinical care and public health interventions?

Question 5: How do Social Workers communicate with patients, families, communities, and
professionals in health and other fields in a responsive and responsible manner that
supports a team approach?

Question 6: How do you apply relationship-building values and the principles of team
dynamics to perform effectively in different team roles?
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