Public health nurses' experience of collaboration with primary care providers in northern British Columbia

Public health nurses (PHNs) and primary care providers in northern British Columbia will need to work closely together in primary care homes and interprofessional teams, but little is known about how these providers collaborate. In this study, fifteen PHNs shared their experiences of collaborating with primary care providers in day-to-day practice. Interpretive description methods of analysis (Thorne, 2008) revealed that PHNs’ experience of collaboration was characterized by the themes of power, autonomy, communication, and a public health perspective. PHNs viewed collaboration with primary care providers somewhat skeptically, but they possessed the knowledge, skills, and abilities to collaborate successfully. The facilitators of collaboration were client-centred care, professional relationships, teamwork, leadership, and direct communication. When PHNs made clients’ needs and preferences for care and services their priority, the foundational aspects of collaboration were expressed in their practice, and collaboration with primary care providers contributed to positive outcomes for clients, families, and communities.