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Understand the roles of healthcare team members, interprofessional competency frameworks, evidence-based team communication tools, shared decision-making, and how to navigate hierarchy safely. Directly prepares for CASPer teamwork and interprofessional scenarios.
Who does what — and why knowing this improves patient outcomes
An RN can SAFELY delegate which of the following tasks to an unregulated care provider (PSW)?
IPEC core competencies and why they matter for patient outcomes
IPEC Core Competencies for Collaborative Practice
The Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) defines four core competency domains for collaborative practice: (1) Values and Ethics — all team members share a patient-centered orientation, maintain respect for each profession's role, and commit to safe, high-quality care. (2) Roles and Responsibilities — understanding what each profession contributes and what falls within or outside their scope. (3) Interprofessional Communication — communicating with team members in a way that supports safe, effective, team-based care. (4) Teams and Teamwork — applying relationship-building and team dynamics principles to effectively collaborate across professions.
Why Interprofessional Collaboration Improves Patient Outcomes
A nursing student observes that the physiotherapist, nurse, and physician all have different ideas about the patient's mobility goals. The MOST appropriate interprofessional response is:
SBAR, check-backs, call-outs, and TeamSTEPPS tools
TeamSTEPPS — Evidence-Based Teamwork
TeamSTEPPS (Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety) is an evidence-based teamwork framework developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the Department of Defense. It comprises four core skills: Team Structure (defining roles and responsibilities), Communication (SBAR, check-backs, call-outs, handoffs), Situation Monitoring (cross-monitoring, STEP: Status of patient, Team members, Environment, Progress), and Mutual Support (task assistance, advocacy-inquiry, two-challenge rule, CUS words). Studies demonstrate that TeamSTEPPS implementation reduces surgical adverse events, medication errors, and HAIs.
Closed-Loop Communication Tools
Check-Back (Read-Back):
"Administer 2 mg IV morphine." → "Confirmed — 2 mg IV morphine." → "Correct."
Every verbal order must be read back and verified before execution.
Call-Out:
"Patient's BP is now 80/40!" (said loudly for all team members to hear)
Critical information announced to the whole team simultaneously — no one left uninformed.
SBAR Handoff:
Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation — structures all patient handoffs for completeness.
Situation Monitoring — STEP
A physician verbally orders 'Furosemide 40 mg IV now.' The nurse's next action is to:
Shared decision-making and the patient as a team member
components.interactiveLearning.terms
components.interactiveLearning.definitions
A physiotherapist tells the nurse that the patient is declining all mobility sessions. The nurse's MOST appropriate response using an interprofessional framework is:
