The acute care nurse practitioner in collaborative practice.

Successful collaborative practice between an acute care nurse practitioner and a physician impacts positively on patient care. Collaboration among disciplines can provide the patient with superior care that is organized, efficient, and prompt. Collaboration also gives each partner in the relationship a great deal of professional satisfaction. The acute care setting in Head and Neck Surgical Oncology provides an excellent environment for collaboration. The patient with head and neck cancer has many complicated medical and nursing problems that challenge the efficiency of this integrative practice model. In this article, the authors demonstrate the effectiveness of this practice model in the management of this patient population.