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.
Nursing Standard. 30, 52, 42-47. doi: 10.7748/ns.2016.e10402
Correspondence Peer reviewAll articles are subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software
Conflict of interestNone declared
Received: 15 January 2016
Accepted: 02 February 2016
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