An integrative review of facilitators and barriers influencing collaboration and teamwork between general practitioners and nurses working in general practice

Aim: To identify facilitators and barriers influencing collaboration and teamwork between general practitioners and nurses working in general (family) practice.

Background: Internationally, a shortage of doctors entering and remaining in general practice and an increasing burden of chronic disease has diversified the nurse's role in this setting. Despite a well-established general practice nursing workforce, little attention has been paid to the ways doctors and nurses collaborate in this setting.

Design: Integrative literature review.

Data sources: CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Life, Cochrane Library, Joanna Briggs Institute Library of Systematic Reviews and Trove (dissertation and theses) were searched for papers published between 2000 and May 2014.

Review methods: This review was informed by the approach of Whittemore and Knafl (2005). All included papers were assessed for methodological quality. Findings were extracted, critically examined and grouped into themes.

Results: Eleven papers met the inclusion criteria. Thematic analysis revealed three themes common to the facilitators of and barriers to collaboration and teamwork between GPs in general practice: (1) roles and responsibilities; (2) respect, trust and communication; and (3) hierarchy, education and liability.

Conclusion: This integrative review has provided insight into issues around role definition, communication and organizational constraints which influence the way nurses and general practitioners collaborate in a team environment. Future research should investigate in more detail the ways doctors and nurses work together in general practice and the impact of collaboration on nursing leadership and staff retention.