The supporting and inhibiting factors of interprofessional collaborative practice in a newly established teaching hospital

The effect of COVID-19 patient care and emergency response interprofessional training on COVID-19 knowledge, perception, behavior and readiness for care

BACKGROUND

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for Interprofessional Education (IPE) and collaborative practices have gained even more importance.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of IPE on COVID-19 on students' knowledge, perceptions, behaviors and readiness for care regarding COVID-19.

METHOD

The study followed a single-group pre-/post-test semi-experimental research design. The sample consisted of 435 students studying Elderly Care/Home Patient Care/First and Emergency Aid programs. The students' perception of interdisciplinary education was evaluated at the beginning of the study.

RESULTS

The students were given an online COVID-19 Patient Care and Emergency Response IPE that lasted five hours and was split into two parts. The perception of interdisciplinary education was significantly higher among female students and first and emergency students before receiving IPE. Before and after IPE, the knowledge level scores of the students who did not receive IPE were found to be higher than those who did. After the training, the students' knowledge levels, readiness for care and their perceptions of control towards the COVID-19 pandemic increased statistically significantly (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

The students' knowledge levels and perceptions of control surrounding the pandemic may grow as a result of the IPE given about COVID-19 during the pandemic, when IPE became more important, and students may feel more prepared to care.

Are we ready to collaborate? The interprofessional collaborative competencies of healthcare professionals in the Global South context

Background

Current evidence of interprofessional collaboration suggests the importance of measuring and identifying the current state of the health professions’ interprofessional competencies. Therefore, this study was aimed at measuring the interprofessional competencies of health professionals in the Global South context using the validated CICS29.

Materials and methods

This was a cross-sectional study involving 300 healthcare professionals of a newly established teaching hospital. Prior to the measurement of interprofessional competencies, the 29-items CICS29, which has been translated into Indonesian language, was revalidated using a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The 29 items of CICS29 were grouped into six subscales and each item was measured using a 5-point Likert scale. Data on gender, age, type of profession, and the length of working experience was also collected to identify whether discernible differences between grouping variables exists.

Results

Prior to measuring the interprofessional competencies, the validity of the instrument was established. Based on the CFA, the same six-factor model was found in the current study. The Indonesian CICS29 was reliable, with Cronbach alpha values of 0.921 for the whole instrument and that of each subscale ranged between 0.656 and 0.726. The mean total score of CICS29 was 128.53 (out of 145), ranged from 123 to 133.40 obtained by pharmacists and dentists respectively. No significant differences of CICS29 scores were found between grouping variables.

Conclusion

The current study has revealed relatively good interprofessional competencies of healthcare professionals working in a newly established teaching hospital in the Global South healthcare context. Measuring the interprofessional competencies serves as baseline for further intervention to nurture and maintain collaborative practice. In addition, the current study has further proven the cross-cultural validity of CICS29, thus appropriate to be utilized in different setting and context.

Interprofessional collaboration in the breast cancer unit: how do healthcare workers see it?

BACKGROUND

Interprofessional collaboration has an important role in health care for breast cancer patients who are undergoing treatment at the hospital. Interprofessional collaboration has been reported to provide significant benefits for patients. However, qualitative research on interprofessional collaboration in the breast cancer department is rarely done, therefore, a study was conducted to determine the perception of health practitioners about interprofessional collaboration in the breast care unit at a referral centre hospital in West Java, Indonesia.

METHODS

A qualitative study was carried out using in-depth interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs) with 15 healthcare personnel using total sampling. Participants were chosen among healthcare professionals who treat and in charge for outpatient breast cancer, but were not resident physicians. The FGD approach was used for nurses and pharmacists, and interviews were used for oncologists. The audio recordings of all interviews and FGDs were transcribed verbatim and evaluated using thematic analysis.

RESULT

The findings were categorized into two categories to obtain health care workers' perspectives on interprofessional collaboration: (1) impediment factors: personality, lack of leadership, seniority, healthcare workers with double positions, the need for a clinical meeting, hospital bureaucracy, national health insurance implementation, issues with patients, hospital infrastructure, and evaluation and synchronisation; (2) existing supportive elements: effective cooperation, effective communication, clear job description, interpersonal relationships, Standard Operational Procedure (SOP) for cancer therapy, legality for inter-discipline cancer team, professional responsibility, integrated clinical pathway, patient centred care, and comprehensive health services.

CONCLUSIONS

Interprofessional collaboration was seen positively by the respondents. However, there are several hurdles that must be overcome to apply interprofessional collaboration works effectively. The findings of this study can be used to build interprofessional collaborations targeted at enhancing quality health care in breast cancer units.

Promoting Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice in Rural Health Settings: Learnings from a State-Wide Multi-Methods Study

Evidence is mounting regarding the positive effects of Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice (IPECP) on healthcare outcomes. Despite this, IPECP is only in its infancy in several Australian rural healthcare settings. Whilst some rural healthcare teams have successfully adopted an interprofessional model of service delivery, information is scarce on the factors that have enabled or hindered such a transition. Using a combination of team surveys and individual semi-structured team member interviews, data were collected on the enablers of and barriers to IPECP implementation in rural health settings in one Australian state. Using thematic analysis, three themes were developed from the interview data: IPECP remains a black box; drivers at the system level; and the power of an individual to make or break IPECP. Several recommendations have been provided to inform teams transitioning from multi-disciplinary to interprofessional models of service delivery.

Knowledge and readiness for inter professional education and collaborative practice among undergraduate nursing students in a Middle Eastern country - A pilot study

BACKGROUND

Inter Professional Education and Collaboration (IPEC) is grounded on mutual respect, enhances collaborative practice, and increases satisfaction among health care professionals.

PURPOSE

The study was conducted to assess the level of knowledge and readiness for IPEC among nursing students.

METHODS

The student's level of knowledge was assessed using a 20 item questionnaire while their readiness for IPEC was measured using the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) comprising 19 items. A total of 125 nursing students participated in the study and data was analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25 DISCUSSION: The mean level of knowledge was 44.41 with SD of 4.72. The mean readiness score was 79.09 with the SD of 11.77. There is no significant association between the knowledge and readiness of nursing students regarding IPEC and their demographic variables at 0.05 confidence level.

CONCLUSIONS

Majority of the students had moderately adequate knowledge about IPEC and high level of readiness towards IPEC. This implies that when appropriately implemented, the students will reap the benefits of IPEC, which has the potential to improve their ability to provide holistic nursing care to their patients.

Stereotypes among health professions in Indonesia: an explorative study

PURPOSE

Effective and efficient health services require efforts to increase collaboration among health professionals. One of the barriers to effective collaboration is stereotypes. Stereotypes represent perceptions or perspectives about a person or group of people. This study aims to explore the perceptions of health professional students and practitioners regarding stereotypes.

METHODS

This was a qualitative study using a phenomenology approach. A sample of health professions students from both preclinical and clinical stages, as well as health practitioners, was selected using a maximum variation sampling method. Primary data collection was conducted through focus group discussions. Data obtained were analyzed using thematic analysis. A total of nine focus group discussions were conducted.

RESULTS

Four themes were identified from this study, including the types of stereotypes, factors affecting stereotype formation, the implications of stereotypes, and how to overcome stereotypes. Stereotype formation was affected by the lack of understanding of other health professions' roles, hierarchical culture, personal experience in receiving healthcare, and community view. Stereotypes among health professionals created obstacles to healthcare team communication and reduced self-confidence in certain health professionals. These stereotypes may be overcome through competency development and knowledge sharing among professionals as well as through education on other health care professionals' roles and competencies so that each profession possessed similar goals for patient safety.

CONCLUSION

Both positive and negative stereotypes negatively affected collaboration. Stereotypes were greatly affected by multifactorial causes. Therefore, understanding other professions' roles and conducting interprofessional education are important to overcome stereotypes.

Understanding helping behaviors in an interprofessional surgical team: How do members engage?

OBJECTIVE

In surgical environments, work must be flexible, allowing practitioners to seek help when required. How surgeons navigate the complexity of interprofessional teams and collaborative care whilst attending to their own knowledge/skill gaps can be difficult. This study aims to understand helping behaviours in interprofessional surgical teams.

DESIGN

Thirteen semi-structured interviews with participants were completed. Data collection and inductive analysis were conducted iteratively using thematic analysis.

RESULTS

We found several intersecting features that influenced helping engagement. Work context, including nested and cross-sectional identities, physical and hierarchical environments, diversity, support for risk-taking and innovation and perceptions of a "speak up" culture shaped the way helping scenarios were approached. Intrinsic attributes influenced decisions to dis/engage. When united, these features shaped how helping behaviours became enacted.

CONCLUSION

If we desire to create surgical teams that deliver quality care, we must consider not only individual attributes but the context in which teams are situated.