Collaboration is key: The actual experience of disciplines working together in child care

Susanne Garvis, Jane Kirkby, Keryn McMahon and Colleen Meyer

Nursing & Health Sciences, 2016, vol. 18, issue 1, 44-51

Abstract: Promoting young children's academic and developmental outcomes can no longer be achieved by the single efforts of one profession, but requires professionals to work together in inter‐professional teams to understand the complexity of young children's lives. Collaboration in early childhood programs involves health professionals, educators, and other professionals sharing information, validating each other's roles, and providing input around which strategies promote positive outcomes for all children. There are, however, limited studies available within early childhood education on inter‐disciplinary relationships between nurses and teachers. This paper helps to fill this void by exploring the relationship of an early childhood teacher and maternal and child health nurse working alongside one another in an Australian kindergarten. Through a narrative approach, a number of characteristics of the relationship were identified as key elements to a productive relationship. Findings are important for health professionals working with early childhood educators. By understanding the complexity within and between disciplines, professionals can work effectively to support young children and their families.

Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1111/nhs.12226

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wly:nuhsci:v:18:y:2016:i:1:p:44-51

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Nursing & Health Sciences from John Wiley & Sons
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().