The goal of this best practice guideline is to strengthen collaborative practice among nurses, because effective collaborative practice is essential for working in health-care organizations. In this guideline, we focus on collaborative practice amongst three types of nursing professionals – registered nurse (RN), registered practical nurse (RPN) and nurse practitioner (NP) – and explore what fosters healthy work environments for them, aware that collaboration must align with the needs of the patient or client. This best practice guideline was developed to assist nurses, nursing leaders, other health professionals and senior managers to enhance positive outcomes for patients/clients (individual/family/group/community), nurses, and the organization through intra-professional collaborative practice. This guideline was based on the best available evidence and where evidence was limited, the best practice recommendations were based on the consensus of expert opinion. This guideline identifies:

best practices for intra-professional practice; and
the organizational culture, values and relationships, and the structures and processes required, for developing and sustaining effective intra-professional nursing practice among nurses

Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario. (2016). Intra-professional collaborative practice among nurses. Toronto, ON, Canada: Author.