The challenge of interdisciplinarity

Abstract

The restructuring of health services and the shift to ambulatory care has resulted in several institutions considering the adoption of program management. This approach intensifies interdisciplinary team work, the latest care delivery method for various services. But what exactly is an interdisciplinary team? And what is the nurse's role within that team? These two questions are often asked in the literature, as well as in practice. The answers to these questions are still confusing. The inability of the nursing profession to define itself clearly in comparison with other health care professionals has negative consequences. This article presents a vision of interdisciplinarity as a means for nurses to define themselves within an interdisciplinary team.