Stereotypes of experienced health professionals in an interprofessional context: results from a cross-sectional survey in Germany

A concurrent mixed-method study exploring the experiences of interprofessional collaboration among Canadian midwives and obstetricians

AIM

This study explores the experiences of interprofessional collaboration of Canadian midwives and obstetricians from midwives' perspective.

DESIGN

A concurrent mixed-methods approach that combined a small validation study and qualitative thematic analysis was used to provide evidence of the nature and importance of collaboration between Registered Midwives (RMs) and obstetricians.

METHOD

Eighteen RMs across Canada completed a demographic survey and the Midwifery-Obstetrician Collaboration (MOC) scale in 2023. The quantitative analyses were conducted to assess the reliability of the Midwifery-Obstetrician Collaboration (MOC) and accumulate preliminary evidence to support its validity. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 participants. After completing the interviews, themes were identified using thematic analysis.

RESULTS

The primary themes identified were knowledge of midwifery scope affects collaboration, collaboration is necessary for effective patient care, midwife-physician collaboration is impacted by power differentials and hierarchies, and proposed methods to improve physician-midwife collaboration. Although a small sample size did not permit extensive statistical testing, the quantitative results supported the reliability of the MOC scale. In addition, a strong correlation between the MOC and the communication subscale of the Inter-Professional Collaboration (IPC) scale provided evidence of the MOC's concurrent validity as a measure of collaboration between midwives and physicians.

CONCLUSION

This study provides support for the Midwifery-Obstetrics Collaboration (MOC) Scale as an assessment tool to evaluate collaboration between midwives and OB/GYNs in obstetrics care. While the 18 RMs recruited for this study provided a fulsome analysis for the qualitative portion, a larger study is necessary to provide more extensive quantitative analysis to validate the MOC scale for continued use among RMs and OBs.

IMPLICATIONS

The implications of this study are to foster strong interprofessional relationships between midwives and OBs and to improve the health outcomes of pregnant women and newborns.

REPORTING METHOD

The authors adhered to Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ).

Violence and aggression against nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America. From the emerging leaders program of the Interamerican Society of Cardiology (SIAC)

INTRODUCTION

During the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, healthcare providers have overcome difficult experiences such as workplace violence. Nurses are particularly vulnerable to workplace violence. The objective of this study was to characterize violence and aggression against nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America.

METHODS

An electronic cross-sectional survey was conducted in 19 Latin American countries to characterize the frequency and type of violent actions against front-line healthcare providers.

RESULTS

Of the original 3544 respondents, 16% were nurses (n = 567). The mean age was 39.7 ± 9.0 years and 79.6% (n = 2821) were women. In total, 69.8% (n = 2474) worked in public hospitals and 81.1% (n = 2874) reported working regularly with COVID-19 patients. Overall, about 68.6% (n = 2431) of nurses experienced at least one episode of workplace aggression during the pandemic. Nurses experienced weekly aggressions more frequently than other healthcare providers (45.5% versus 38.1%, p < .007). Nurses showed a trend of lower reporting rates against the acts of aggression suffered (p = .076). In addition, nurses were more likely to experience negative cognitive symptoms after aggressive acts (33.4% versus 27.8%, p = .028). However, nurses reported considering changing their work tasks less frequently compared to other healthcare providers after an assault event (p = .005).

CONCLUSION

Workplace violence has been a frequent problem for all healthcare providers during COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America. Nurses were a particularly vulnerable subgroup, with higher rates of aggressions and cognitive symptoms and lower rate of complaints than other healthcare providers who suffered from workplace violence. It is imperative to develop strategies to protect this vulnerable group from aggressions during their tasks.

How to enrich team research in healthcare by considering five theoretical perspectives

The aim of this paper is to inspire team research to apply diverse and unconventional perspectives to study team dynamics and performance in healthcare settings. To illustrate that using multiple perspectives can yield valuable insights, we examine a segment of a team interaction during a heart-surgery, using five distinct interdisciplinary perspectives known from small group research: the psychodynamic, functional, conflict-power-status, temporal, and social identity perspectives. We briefly describe each theoretical perspective, discuss its application to study healthcare teams, and present possible research questions for the segment at hand using the respective perspective. We also highlight the benefits and challenges associated with employing these diverse approaches and explore how they can be integrated to analyze team processes in health care. Finally, we offer our own insights and opinions on the integration of these approaches, as well as the types of data required to conduct such analyses. We also point to further research avenues and highlight the benefits associated with employing these diverse approaches. Finally, we offer our own insights and opinions on the integration of these approaches, as well as the types of data required to conduct such analyses.

Teaching interprofessional collaboration among future healthcare professionals

Healthcare has become more complex in recent years. Such complexity can best be addressed by interprofessional teams. We argue that to ensure successful communication and cooperation in interprofessional teams, it is important to establish interprofessional education in health-related study programs. More precisely, we argue that students in health-related programs need to develop interprofessional competencies and a common language, experience interprofessional contact, build inclusive identities and establish beliefs in the benefit of interprofessional diversity. We give examples how these goals can be implemented in interprofessional education. We also discuss challenges and future avenues for respective research healthcare professionals.

The paradoxical effects of professional stereotypes on the quality of care by interprofessional teams: The contingent effects of team faultlines, team stereotypes, and championship behaviors

Background

Despite calls for interprofessional teamwork to ensure quality care in healthcare settings, interprofessional teams do not always perform effectively. There is evidence that professional stereotypes inhibit effective interprofessional teamwork, but they haven’t been explored as a phenomenon that impacts team’s performance and quality of care.

Objectives

To focus on professional stereotypes emerging in interprofessional teams and examine the contingency effects of interprofessional team’s faultlines, professional stereotypes, and leader’s championship behaviors on team’s quality of care.

Methods

A cross-sectional nested sample of 59 interprofessional teams and 284 professionals, working in geriatric long-term-care facilities in Israel. Additionally, five to seven of the residents of each facility were randomly sampled to obtain the outcome variable. Data collection employed a multisource (interprofessional team members), multimethod (validated questionnaires and data from residents’ health records) strategy.

Results

The results indicated that faultlines are not directly harmful to team’s quality of care; instead, they are likely to impact quality of care only when team stereotypes emerge. Furthermore, whereas teams typified by high professional stereotypes require person-oriented championship leadership, for teams typified by low team stereotypes, championship leadership harms the quality of care they provide.

Conclusion

These findings have implications for handling interprofessional teams. Practically, leaders must be well-educated to better analyze team members’ needs and maintain the appropriate leadership style.

What factors affect team members' evaluation of collaboration in medical teams?

Introduction

Perceived teamwork quality is associated with numerous work-related outcomes, ranging from team effectiveness to job satisfaction. This study explored what situational and stable factors affect the perceived quality of teamwork during a specific team task: when a medical team comprising a senior (supervisor) and a junior (trainee) physician diagnoses a patient.

Methods

During a field study in an emergency department, multisource data describing the patients, the diagnosing physicians, and the context were collected, including physicians' ratings of their teamwork. The relationships between perceived teamwork quality and situational (e.g., workload) and stable (e.g., seniority) factors were estimated in a latent regression model using the structural equation modeling (SEM) approach.

Results

Across the N = 495 patients included, SEM analyses revealed that the patient-specific case clarity and urgency influenced the perceived teamwork quality positively, whereas the work experience of the supervisor influenced the perceived teamwork quality of both supervisor and trainee negatively, albeit to different degrees.

Discussion

Our findings shed light on the complex underpinnings of perceived teamwork quality, a performance-relevant factor that may influence work and organizational effectiveness in healthcare settings.

Current Stereotypes Associated with Nursing and Nursing Professionals: An Integrative Review

Nursing and nursing professionals are associated with social stereotypes, which may hinder the profession’s development and future prospects as a scientific discipline. The aim of this study was to identify and describe the stereotypes associated with the nursing profession—students and professionals. Therefore, we carried out an integrative review. The search was conducted using PubMed, WOS, and CINAHL databases, and its search strategy was based on a combination of standardised keywords and natural vocabulary, with a temporal limit between 2016 and 2021. The data extraction and analysis was based on the conceptual framework developed by Whittemore and Knafl. Twenty-seven studies were included in the review, and their results were classified and coded. Two categories emerged, namely, stereotypes relating to the professionals’ gender and stereotypes relating to the profession itself. We concluded that the nursing profession is viewed as female with low skills, social status, salary, academic level and entry requirements, and with little autonomy. Male nurses’ professional competencies and masculinity are questioned, while the work carried out by female nurses is viewed as unprofessional. To reduce these stereotypes and bias we must present the nursing profession as a scientific discipline, developed by both men and women. Specific channels for this awareness-raising work include interventions from universities and the media, and participation in health policies.

Factors related to implementation of an interprofessional communication concept in thoracic oncology: a mixed-methods study

Background

An innovative patient-centred interprofessional communication concept with advanced lung cancer patients (Heidelberg Milestone Communication Approach, MCA) has been developed and implemented. Role changes and interprofessional communication are challenging in a busy outpatient oncology service. The aim of the study was to present attitudes to interprofessional collaboration of professions in thoracic oncology during the implementation of MCA and to explore factors and experiences healthcare team members associate with its implementation.

Methods

In a longitudinal study, 3 of the 4 subscales of the validated German translation of the University of the West of England Interprofessional Questionnaire (UWE-IP-D) were collected prior to implementation of MCA (t0) with follow-up data collections at 4 months (t1), 10 months (t2) and 17 months (t3). Descriptive analysis included calculating subscale sum scores and categorizing each subscale into positive, neutral and negative attitudes. Interviews and focus groups on implementation and interprofessional collaboration in the context of MCA were conducted with healthcare staff. The topics were analysed deductively, guided by the Professional Interactions factor of the Tailored Implementation for Chronic Diseases (TICD) framework.

Results

The survey with 87 staff (44 nurses, 13 physicians, 12 psycho-social staff, 7 therapists, and 11 others) participating at least once found heterogeneous attitudes. ‘Communication and Teamwork’ and ‘Interprofessional Relationships’ were characterized by primarily positive attitudes. Neutral attitudes to ‘Interprofessional Interaction’ were indicated by the majority of respondents. There were no differences between collection times. Fifteen staff members participated in the interviews and focus groups. The main interprofessional interaction factors associated with implementation concerned the knowledge of the MCA and the impact of the intervention on team roles, on information sharing and on transfer processes between wards. Adaptive processes led to a shift in the perception of responsibilities and interprofessional collaboration.

Conclusions

Positive experiences and potential shortfalls in the implementation were observed. Future introductions of interprofessional communication concepts require further activities which should address the attitudes of healthcare professionals towards interprofessional care.

Trial registration

DRKS00013469 / Date of registration: 22/12/2017.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12904-022-00977-6.

[Interprofessional socialization and collaboration on an interprofessional training ward - a reconstructive analysis]

Interprofessional education has gained relevance in German-speaking countries, and interprofessional training wards (IPTW) can contribute to the acquisition of interprofessional competencies and thereby improve interprofessional collaborative practice and patient care. Professional socialization and identity development have proven to be critical for future clinical practice in addition to competency development. According to Khalili (2013) socialization through interprofessional education can result in a dual identity, i. e., a sense of belonging to one's own profession as well as to the interprofessional health care team. The aim of this study was to analyse to which extent interprofessional socialization takes place on the Interprofessional Training Ward in Heidelberg (HIPSTA) and how medical students in their practical year and nursing trainees in their third year of training experience their placement there. For this purpose, five semi-structured group discussions were conducted with undergraduates at the end of their placement on HIPSTA and analysed using the documentary method. Typification resulted in two types that differ with regard to interprofessional socialization. The type interprofessional responsiblepersons is characterized by the joint assumption of responsibility for patient care, open communication with each other and joint structuring of collaboration, which contributed to a removal of barriers and interprofessional role learning; the type interprofessional learners is characterized by their focus on learning processes and their anticipation of barriers between the professional groups, which would be relevant for future collaboration. All groups experienced a sense of belonging to their peer-student/learner group, regardless of their different professional background. Their professional identity underwent further development. These results show that placement on an IPTW does not warrant interprofessional socialization processes and the development of a dual identity. However, it can be a first step in the right direction.