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

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.

[Expectations, requirements and limitations of future task sharing between the nursing profession and the medical profession: results from the Care-N Study M-V]. / Erwartungen, Wünsche und Grenzen der künftigen Aufgabenteilung von Pflege und Medizin - Ergebnisse der Care-N Study M-V.

BACKGROUND: The aging population causes a sustained increase in demand of medical and nursing care services. At the same time health care professionals are aging, too. This leads to a growing number of health care gaps. Therefore, the health care system needs to be reformed. This includes a reallocation of task between some of the health care professions. AIMS: This article addresses developments, potentials and limitations in the context of the future allocation of tasks between the nursing and the medical profession. Aim is to specify the future task sharing between nurses and physicians regarding expectations, requirements and limitations. METHODS: We conducted questionnaire based Delphi interviews with an interdisciplinary group of experts. (type aggregation of ideas). RESULTS: In the future, to expert's point of view, nurses will take over routine tasks in the medical and nursing health care supply. Task sharing by substitution is regarded with skepticism by experts. It requires a long time perspective and an early involvement of all stakeholders. CONCLUSIONS: Germany is at the beginning of the process of the future task sharing between nurses and physicians. The realization requires a comprehensive political support and further development of concepts including scientific implementation and evaluation.

[Academic training of nursing professionals in Germany: further development of nursing expertise - results of the Care-N Study M-V]. / Akademische Pflegeausbildung in Deutschland: Ergebnisse zur pflegefachlichen Weiterentwicklung aus der Care-N Study M-V.

BACKGROUND: The development of innovative health care concepts is needed in order to meet the population's need for nursing care in the future. Nurses take over new and expanded roles with a higher degree of professional autonomy. This requires the further development of academic training options for nursing professionals. OBJECTIVES: To explore the developments regarding academic trainings for nurses: (a) what are the pros and cons?; (b) what are the features distinguishing nurses with an academic training from nurses with a three-year vocational training?; and (c) what are the wishes regarding the further development? The aim is to identify key components of further developments of the academic training of nursing professionals. METHODS: The Care-N Study M-V includes a qualitative Delphi survey to generate ideas and comprises two standardized, mailed questionnaires and a group discussion including 25 experts. RESULTS: The experts find more arguments in favour of a further development of academic trainings for nurses. The primary distinguishing criteria for an academically trained nurse compared to a nurse qualified in a three-year vocational training is a higher degree of professional autonomy in undertaking tasks. For the future development of academic training, the experts would like to see a significant contribution to ensure the provision of high quality nursing and an improvement of working conditions for nurses. CONCLUSIONS: The further development of academic trainings for nurses seems to be reasonable. To meet future challenges, it is necessary to adapt existing academic trainings as well as to develop and implement innovative training concepts in the field of academic nursing.