Effective Individual Contributions on Iranian Nurses Intraprofessional Collaboration Process: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Introduction:  The staffs' attitudes, beliefs, ideologies and dutifulness, along with their individual characteristics particularly their personality traits are among the factors that are known to affect their performance. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of individual contributions to the process of intraprofessional collaboration among Iranian nurses. Methods: Twenty-three nurses from three different areas, namely Tehran, Tabriz and Ilam hospitals participated in this qualitative study. The participants were selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected using deep and unstructured interviews. Interviews were simultaneously analyzed using conventional content analysis method after being transcribed. Results: Several essential factors contributing to the process of effective collaboration among Iranian nurses were identified: (a) nurses’ perspectives and beliefs, (b) personal experiences, (c) individual characteristics and, (d) personal problems. Conclusion: The findings indicate that the features and characteristics of individual contributions are very important and effective on nurses' intraprofessional collaboration. Thus, attention must be paid to these factors in order to overcome problems and obstacles that are encountered on the way of achieving effective collaboration.

Keywords: Collaboration, Nurses, Personality, Qualitative research