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Interdisciplinary collaboration between nursing and

engineering in health care: A scoping review
Ying Zhou, Zheng Li, Yingxin Li
International journal of nursing studies 117, 103900, 2021

Background

Due to the rapid advancements in precision medicine and artificial intelligence, interdisciplinary
collaborations between nursing and engineering have emerged. Although engineering is vital in
solving complex nursing problems and advancing healthcare, the collaboration between the two
fields has not been fully elucidated.

Objectives

To identify the study areas of interdisciplinary collaboration between nursing and engineering in
health care, particularly focusing on the role of nurses in the collaboration.

Methods

In this study, a scoping review using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and
Meta-Analysis Extension for Scoping Reviews was performed. A comprehensive search for
published literature was conducted using the PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied
Health Literature, Scopus, Embase, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers Digital Library, and Association for Computing Machinery Digital Library
from inception to November 22, 2020. Data screening and extraction were performed
independently by two reviewers. Any discrepancies in results were resolved through discussions
or in consultation with a third reviewer. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and content
analysis. Results were visualized in an interdisciplinary collaboration model.

Results

We identified 6,752 studies through the literature search, and 60 studies met the inclusion
criteria. The study areas of interdisciplinary collaboration concentrated on patient safety
(n = 18), symptom monitoring and health management (n = 18), information system and nursing
human resource management (n = 16), health education (n = 5), and nurse-patient
communication (n = 3). The roles of nurses in the interdisciplinary collaboration were divided
into four themes: requirement analyst (n = 21), designer (n = 22), tester(n = 37) and evaluator
(n = 49). Based on these results, an interdisciplinary collaboration model was constructed.
Conclusions

Interdisciplinary collaborations between nursing and engineering promote nursing innovation

and practice. However, these collaborations are still emerging and in the early stages. In the
future, nurses should be more involved in the early stages of solving healthcare problems,
particularly in the requirement analysis and designing phases. Furthermore, there is an urgent
need to develop interprofessional education, strengthen nursing connections with the healthcare
engineering industry, and provide more platforms and resources to bring nursing and
engineering disciplines together.

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Interprofessional collaboration and collaboration among

nursing staff members in Northern Greece
A Dimitriadou, M Lavdaniti, D Theofanidis, M Psychogiou, Eu Minasidou, A Konstadinidou-
Straukou, D Sapountzi-Krepia
International Journal of Caring Sciences 1 (3), 140, 2008
AIM: This study aimed at assessing satisfaction from collaboration among nursing staff
members as well as between nurses and physicians, and to determine factors influencing their
collaboration. BACKGROUND: Studies investigating the collaboration among nursing staff
members are mainly focused on its negative effects in their work, on horizontal violence among
nurses, on colleagues’ aggression, and on verbal abuse. Multidisciplinary and interprofessional
working is currently a priority in health care. MATERIAL-METHOD: The study is descriptive. The
data collection was carried out through a self-administered questionnaire, which was developed
by the researchers. The participants were 336 nursing staff members working in hospitals in the
greater area of Thessaloniki.
RESULTS: 87.8% agree that colleagues in the hospital help one the other, and 76.9% agree
that there is teamwork and collaboration between the various levels of nursing staff. Almost half
(50.5%) disagree that no-one does not undermine the efforts of the other. Many nursing staff
members (50.6%) agree that physicians collaborate very well with them. More than a half of the
sample (56%) disagree that physicians have a complete picture of the activities of a nurse and
57.7% disagree that physicians underestimate too much the nursing staff. CONCLUSIONS:
Since the nursing work environment has a critical impact on patient safety, nursing staff
members and physicians should make an effort to collaborate well and to provide quality
services.