Protecting the discipline: collaboration revisited.

Collaboration has become requisite for the funding of research by the federal government because of the complex nature of health problems facing the nation. This column will present ideas from the National Institute of Health, the Institute of Medicine, the National Institute of Nursing Research, and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing that confirm the need for collaboration. The terms multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary research will be considered as they apply to successful nursing research in light of loosely coupled systems. Finally, suggestions for productive interdisciplinary research will be put forth for the reader's consideration.