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Evidence for nurse education
Enhancing collaboration through interprofessional learning
  1. Michael J Tatterton1,2,
  2. Claire Bethell1,2
  1. 1 School of Nursing and Healthcare Leadership, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK
  2. 2 Bluebell Wood Children's Hospice, North Anston, UK
  1. Correspondence to Dr Michael J Tatterton, School of Nursing and Healthcare Leadership, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK; michael.tatterton{at}hotmail.co.uk

https://doi.org/10.1136/ebnurs-2024-104120

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    Background and purpose

    • This is a summary of Saragih et al’s study.1

    • Interprofessional collaboration is essential, particularly in light of current challenges in healthcare, in order to deliver care to those with complex health demands.2

    • Interprofessional education (IPE) can be challenging to implement due to insufficient resources,3 differences in curricula structure, professional prioritisation and cross-discipline communication.4

    • The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of IPE on healthcare professional collaboration in practice.

    Methods

    View this table:

    Results and areas for future research

    • 11 papers were included in the study, published between 2006 and 2022. In total, 1504 professionals participated in the studies, from various disciplines including nursing, medicine, physician assistants, occupational therapy, dietetics, podiatry, physiotherapy, pharmacy and radiography.

    • IPE sessions that included learners from at least two professions resulted in improved attitudes towards interprofessional working and mutual respect for multidisciplinary working.

    • Cross-professional knowledge was strengthened by IPE.

    • IPE was enhanced by scenario-based learning, problem-based learning and interprofessional care training.

    • Working with professionals from other disciplines gave learners the opportunity to integrate their knowledge and develop skills in problem-solving and explaining phenomena more so than single-discipline education.

    • Educators are encouraged to integrate IPE activities into curricula, stimulating the interest of students in collaborative working and encourage such practice in the workplace.

    • Due to the limited amount of data available, further research is needed to enable baseline and postintervention comparisons to identify the impact of IPE on learners.

    Take home messages

    • IPE promotes increased awareness of the roles of other healthcare professionals and engenders mutual respect across professions.

    • IPE that includes opportunities for mixed-discipline learning and interaction enhances skills in collaboration and increases learner’s perceptions of high-quality team working and interprofessionalism.

    Ethics approval

    Not applicable.

    References

    1. ↵
      2. Saragih ID ,
      3. Hsiao C-T ,
      4. Fann W-C , et al
      . Impacts of Interprofessional education on collaborative practice of healthcare professionals: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Nurse Educ Today 2024;136. doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2024.106136
    2. ↵
      2. Homeyer S ,
      3. Hoffmann W ,
      4. Hingst P , et al
      . Effects of Interprofessional education for medical and nursing students: enablers, barriers and expectations for optimizing future Interprofessional collaboration–a qualitative study. BMC Nurs 2018;17:13. doi:10.1186/s12912-018-0279-x
      OpenUrlCrossRef
    3. ↵
      2. Bogossian F ,
      3. New K ,
      4. George K , et al
      . The implementation of Interprofessional education: a scoping review. Adv Health Sci Educ Theory Pract 2023;28:243–77. doi:10.1007/s10459-022-10128-4
      OpenUrl
    4. ↵
      2. Lash DB ,
      3. Barnett MJ ,
      4. Parekh N , et al
      . Perceived benefits and challenges of Interprofessional education based on a multidisciplinary faculty member survey. Am J Pharm Educ 2014;78:180. doi:10.5688/ajpe7810180
      OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text

    Footnotes

    • X @MJTatterton, @ecbethell

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests MJT is an editor of Evidence-Based Nursing.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.