Background: Since 2004, the National Institutes of Health Roadmap initiative has placed increasing emphasis on multidisciplinary collaborative research. The Interprofessional Education Collaborative first published core competencies for team collaboration in 2011. The Institute of Medicine’s Future of Nursing report (2011) endorses nurses to coordinate teams that conduct research and quality improvement leading to improved care delivery systems and better patient outcomes.
Intervention: Individuals from three disciplines (nursing, medicine and physical therapy) joined forces to compete for an organization sponsored intramural research grant fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and encouraging novice researchers to build partnerships and programs of research leading to extramural funding. The team set ground rules for working together. A proposal was written, submitted and rejected. Subsequently, a revision and re-submission was completed and funding was awarded on the second try. The team is now actively engaged in an interventional research study dealing with cancer symptom management, and is developing a second collaborative research project.
Lessons Learned: Persistence is key, never give up. The process will take longer than anticipated. Formulate a team where “disciplinary humility” is the rule. Choose a leader. Meet regularly. Work off each other’s strengths, and leverage available ancillary personnel. There should be at least one team member with formal research training (PhD). Clinicians may have a hard time separating their desire to help patients with the objectivity needed to think like a scientist. Once a project has started, begin brainstorming about the next one. Negotiate publication authorship early to avoid future misunderstandings.
Implications for nursing: Mutual respect is earned by demonstrating expertise in research design, methodologies, and being a highly organized and reliable leader. For research, PhD prepared nurses have much to contribute to multidisciplinary research teams. Working solo to build a research career can be unrealistic with current funding priorities. Team research builds relationships, divides the duties, and provides the mutual support and encouragement necessary to develop new knowledge in health care.
Recommendations for the future: There is a need for more collaborative research teams. Nurses need to be proactive in finding their way to gain entre onto such teams. Successful research partnerships enhance working relationships, inform practice and are highly rewarding.