The experiences of cardiovascular surgeons and nurses with mutual support through interprofessional collaboration in the intensive care unit.

Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) emphasizes the need for radical approaches in its Global Patient Safety Action Plan, particularly in terms of interprofessional and multidisciplinary approaches. The plan highlights the importance of providing training on patient safety for all professionals, focusing on team and task-based strategies that include bedside and simulation education. TeamSTEPPS® (Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety) is an educational programme developed to teach health care professionals on specific tools and strategies to enhance basic teamwork skills. Mutual support, one of the teamwork skills described in TeamSTEPPS®, involves team members assisting one another, providing and receiving feedback on performance, and advocating assertively when patient safety is threatened.

Aim: The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of cardiovascular surgeons and nurses with mutual support through interprofessional collaboration in the intensive care unit (ICU) at Hacettepe University.

Study Design: The study employed a basic qualitative research design. The data were gathered through in-depth interviews and analysed with inductive content analysis in accordance with Elo and Kyngäs. We used the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ) checklist to describe and report the components of study design.

Results: We interviewed 13 participants: 6 surgeons and 7 nurses. Six themes were identified: mutual support, positiveness of working in a supportive environment, feedback, effective communication, patient safety and conflict resolution.

Conclusion: The results of our study revealed that intra/inter-professional collaboration and mutual trust based on the variety of individual and workplace-related factors improved patient safety through individual motivation while monitoring and supporting each other in a positive environment, providing feedback and encouraging effective communication, patient advocacy and conflict resolution.

Relevance To Clinical Practice: Exploring the experiences, challenges and successes of health care workers in interprofessional collaboration is crucial. Understanding team dynamics, communication barriers and collaboration strategies can help promote more effective teamwork and contribute to the development of plans to improve the quality of patient care.