Interprofessional clinical training improves self-efficacy of health care students.

BACKGROUND: Interprofessional collaboration potentially enhances patient safety and satisfaction, and reduces tensions and conflicts among health professionals. However, health professionals often lack sufficient knowledge of other professional roles and competences to engage in interprofessional teamwork. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of an interprofessional training programme on students' perceived self-efficacy. METHODS: A quasi-experimental study with an intervention group (239 students) and a control group (405 students). The intervention was an interprofessional clinical study (ICS) unit including students from nursing, medicine, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, laboratory technology and radiography. Data on students' perceived self-efficacy were collected through web-based questionnaires. Aspects of self-efficacy measured were: (1) collaboration with other professions in planning goals and actions for patients; (2) collaboration with other professions for rehabilitation; (3) identifying the functions of other professions and (4) assessing and describing patients' needs and problems. RESULTS: All scores of perceived self-efficacy for the ICS group improved over time although one score change was non-significant (p = 0.08). After adjustment for baseline differences and the score change for the control group, the ICS group's self-efficacy score gain remained statistically significant. CONCLUSION: The study showed that interprofessional training improved students' perception of self-efficacy more than traditional clinical training.

Organizational evaluation of an interprofessional study unit--results from a Danish case study.

This article presents results from an organizational evaluation of an interprofessional clinical study unit (ICS) in Denmark. The aim of this study was to test whether the ICS was based on a durable organizational concept and to identify the prerequisites for the unit to be successful. The evaluation framework was "theory-based evaluation". A program theory was developed based on the concepts and expectations of the steering committee which initiated and designed the ICS. The program theory was tested for conflicts of interest among the stakeholders related to the ICS regarding prerequisites for the study unit to function organizationally. Further analysis examined whether these conditions had been present during the project period and whether all elements had been correctly implemented. The results suggested that although the ICS had taken into account stakeholders' requests, it was not possible to fully implement all the necessary conditions identified as essential for the unit to function successfully. The results generate a set of recommendations for future ICS units to function successfully.