This study examined the nature of health consultation between child care center directors and nursing consultants. Utilizing symbolic interactionism, and specifically role theory, as a theoretical framework, factors which promote or inhibit a collaborative relationship were explored. The influence of these factors on the health consultant role was also investigated.

The study consisted of two parts. In Part One, 133 child care center directors and 118 nurse consultants of which 100 directors and nurse consultants were paired, completed self-administered questionnaires about their health consultation experiences. In Part Two, ten pairs of directors and nurse consultants, five with collaborative working relationships and five with conflicted working relationships were interviewed to further explore their experiences.

Descriptive analyses in Part One of the study revealed high concordance across the groups in terms of their perceptions of the value of the role and the importance and range of health issues.

In Part Two of the study, a grounded theory approach to data collection and analysis was employed. Based on the findings, a conceptual model, Collaborative Health Consultation: A Developmental-Symbolic Interactionist Model was created. Consistent with the tenets of symbolic interactionism and role theory, the process of developing a collaborative health consultation relationship was dependent on reaching mutually agreeable identities during the process of role taking and role making. The collaborative pairs, unlike the conflicted pairs, developed an expanded health consultant role that exceeded regulatory requirements.

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Sigma Theta Tau International
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