Conference Proceedings - School of Nursing & Midwifery - Trinity ...

School of Nursing & Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin: 8 th Annual Interdisciplinary Research Conference
Transforming Healthcare Through Research, Education & Technology: 7 th – 9 th November 2007
Conference Proceedings
If one understands the need for collaborative partnerships between
tertiary education institutions and stakeholders, then the benefits of
such a process becomes clear. This was highlighted by Vilela et al.
(2004), who stated that universities were created to meet the needs
of the communities they served. It is therefore imperative, that
schools of nursing should consider the needs of the community
before they effect any changes to their curricula. This may be done
by entering into a collaborative process with the communities they
serve.
Collaboration is, however, not an easy process, as was
demonstrated by Pardue (2006), who researched cooperation
between service providers and educational institutions. It was
found that 48% of the staff members did not partner with nursing
service personnel to help them develop innovative educational
programmes, and 39% of staff members did not cooperate with
community services regarding their needs. These nurses reported
several problems in implementing their degree programmes.
Collaboration can be seen as a very important aspect of modern
education, as it is a process as well as a product of innovation, and
will help focus the institution on competent and optimal practice
(Lawson 2004). The need for cooperation becomes obvious if one
takes the advances in health care delivery into account, and that
taught material in nursing programmes often did not keep track of
new developments. Lawson (2004, p.227) warned against the idea
that “the professional knows best what clients and students need
and must do”, simply because educators should rather view
students and the clients as partners who have valuable experience
and expertise. Knapp and Lowe (2001, p.14) found that Health
Care Workers often believed that their professional knowledge
enabled them to make decisions about their customers without
involving them in the decision making processes. This approach is
questionable, as the person might not be able to identify his or her
own needs at the time, but they are experts in defining their own
daily lives and the barriers they encounter when they need to
access services.
But what is collaboration? Lawson (2004, pp. 227-228) defined
collaboration by stating that:
“. . . autonomous stakeholders with their respective
competency domains mobilize resources, and both harmonize
and synchronize their operations to solve shared problems,
meet common needs, capitalize on important opportunities
and obtain prized benefits”.
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