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Introduction The results are presented from a grounded theory study that theorized nurse physician collaboration as a basic social process in which groups are formed and changed in harmony. Effective collaboration is essential to superior patient care and outcomes but a lack of theoretical basis for collaboration has hampered the study of collaboration and the optimization of patient care. Purpose The purpose of this study was to theorize collaboration as a basic social process occurring between nurses and physicians. Method Grounded theory was used to explore nurses' and physicians' experiences with collaboration to understand the process intrinsically. Following Institutional Review Board approval, 15 nurses and 7 resident physicians from various units within an academic medical center participated in face-to-face interviews regarding their experiences of collaboration. Data collection and constant comparison analysis continued concurrently until saturation was reached in the core and subsequent categories. Findings The basic social process of nurse-physician collaboration that emerged includes the core category of working together toward a common goal. It describes how nurses and physicians collaborate for patient care. The seven stages in the process are something needs our attention, knowing who to talk to, finding the right person, coming together, exchanging ideas and information, making it happen, and monitoring progress. Conclusion Working together toward a common goal is an empirically derived theory that can guide education and practice to improve patient outcomes, while saving money and lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]