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. 2018 Apr 10:17:13.
doi: 10.1186/s12912-018-0279-x. eCollection 2018.

Effects of interprofessional education for medical and nursing students: enablers, barriers and expectations for optimizing future interprofessional collaboration - a qualitative study

Sabine Homeyer  1 , Wolfgang Hoffmann  1 , Peter Hingst  2 , Roman F Oppermann  3 , Adina Dreier-Wolfgramm  1
Affiliations

Effects of interprofessional education for medical and nursing students: enablers, barriers and expectations for optimizing future interprofessional collaboration - a qualitative study

Sabine Homeyer et al. BMC Nurs. .

Abstract

Background: To ensure high quality patient care an effective interprofessional collaboration between healthcare professionals is required. Interprofessional education (IPE) has a positive impact on team work in daily health care practice. Nevertheless, there are various challenges for sustainable implementation of IPE. To identify enablers and barriers of IPE for medical and nursing students as well as to specify impacts of IPE for both professions, the 'Cooperative academical regional evidence-based Nursing Study in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania' (Care-N Study M-V) was conducted. The aim is to explore, how IPE has to be designed and implemented in medical and nursing training programs to optimize students' impact for IPC.

Methods: A qualitative study was conducted using the Delphi method and included 25 experts. Experts were selected by following inclusion criteria: (a) ability to answer every research question, one question particularly competent, (b) interdisciplinarity, (c) sustainability and (d) status. They were purposely sampled. Recruitment was based on existing collaborations and a web based search.

Results: The experts find more enablers than barriers for IPE between medical and nursing students. Four primary arguments for IPE were mentioned: (1) development and promotion of interprofessional thinking and acting, (2) acquirement of shared knowledge, (3) promotion of beneficial information and knowledge exchange, and (4) promotion of mutual understanding. Major barriers of IPE are the coordination and harmonization of the curricula of the two professions. With respect to the effects of IPE for IPC, experts mentioned possible improvements on (a) patient level and (b) professional level. Experts expect an improved patient-centered care based on better mutual understanding and coordinated cooperation in interprofessional health care teams. To sustainably implement IPE for medical and nursing students, IPE needs endorsement by both, medical and nursing faculties.

Conclusion: In conclusion, IPE promotes interprofessional cooperation between the medical and the nursing profession. Skills in interprofessional communication and roles understanding will be primary preconditions to improve collaborative patient-centered care. The impact of IPE for patients and caregivers as well as for both professions now needs to be more specifically analysed in prospective intervention studies.

Keywords: Education research; Education, medical, graduate; Education, nursing; Interprofessional education; Qualitative research.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethical approval was obtained for the study from the Ethic Committee of the University Medicine Greifswald (reference number: BB 004/14). Written informed consent was obtained from enrolled participants.Not Applicable.The authors declare that they have no competing interests.Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Experts of the Care-N Study M-V
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Effects of IPE for medical and nursing students for future interprofessional collaborative practice
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Influencing factors for sustainable implementation of IPE in medical and nursing curricula
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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