District nurses’ and social workers’ understanding of each other's role

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Abstract
Partnership between the NHS and local authorities continues to be central to government policy concerning the provision of quality community care. Much has been written regarding the facilitators and inhibitors of collaborative working including the need for practitioners to have a clear understanding of the term role. This article outlines an ethnographic study undertaken to identify district nurses’ and social workers’ perceptions of each other's role. Semi-structured interviews which included the use of vignettes were used for data collection. The study identified that at times there was little agreement regarding role within each professional group and also that there was even less agreement between these groups on each other's role spefication. Factors influencing the understanding of the concept of role were found to include the use of technical language and different philosophies and values regarding care provision. Social workers and district nurses involved in this study demonstrated a strong commitment to working together. They identified that formal meetings in which to share knowledge and discuss common areas of practice may be a one way to promote partnership in care provision.