An Instrument to Assess the Digital Competence of Nurse Educators.

BACKGROUND: The Educators and Educator Candidates' Competence in Digital Pedagogy instrument needed to be tested before using it in nursing education. PURPOSE: This study describes the further testing of this instrument to measure nurse educators' digital competence. METHODS: The study is reported according to the 7 steps of the MEASURE Approach. Psychometric testing was conducted with a sample of 111 Finnish nurse educators from 9 universities of applied sciences. The study was conducted during the years 2020 and 2023. RESULTS: The exploratory factor analysis results explained 56% of the variance with 3 factors, including 20 items. The factors were labeled to describe the nurse educators' digital competence: implementing appropriate independent and community learning, acting safely and responsibly, and guiding learning based on the evidence. Cronbach α and McDonald ω coefficients showed good reliability. CONCLUSIONS: The instrument can be used to assess digital competence and identify the development needs to facilitate educators' continuous professional development.

An intervention to address nurse educators' occupational well-being: A process evaluation.

BACKGROUND: There is a global need for more support for the occupational well-being of educators working in nurse education, where nurse educators experience challenges when managing their own occupational well-being. However, there is a lack of research studies into occupational well-being interventions. Aim To evaluate the usability and utility of the Self-Help INtervention for Educators in nurse education. DESIGN: A process evaluation was conducted after the intervention in Spring 2022. SETTINGS: Educational organisations providing national regulated practical nurse education in Finland. PARTICIPANTS: Nurse educators (n = 37), completing the 8-workweek intervention. METHODS: Data were collected with the self-reported electronic feedback questionnaire consisting of three sections: 1) 10-item System Usability Scale, 2) 7-item Utility scale developed for this study and 3) 4 open ended questions. The data were analysed statistically and with content analysis. RESULTS: The intervention was found to be usable; especially the easy learnability and usage of the digital Smart Break-SHINE program and the applicable exercises. It was estimated to be moderately useful as a well-being and break promoter at work. The utility of the intervention to promote physical activity and recovery during working hours was statistically more positive for educators with <5 years of work experience than those with over 15 years. Usability and utility barriers were found especially regarding workload issues. CONCLUSIONS: The Self-Help INtervention for Educators supports the occupational well-being of nurse educators and includes well-being actions suitable for different work surroundings (e.g., remote working) without the need for constant facilitating. The intervention was found to be most beneficial for early career nurse educators. The Self-Help INtervention for Educators needs more development to overcome the usability and utility barriers related to workload issues.

Norwegian nurse educators' self-rating of competencies: a nationwide cross-sectional web-survey.

BACKGROUND: Nurse educators' competencies play a crucial role in the educational quality of nurses. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate how Norwegian nurse educators self-rated their competence domains, and how these competencies were associated background variables. METHODS: The study was designed as a cross-sectional web-survey, and n=154 participated and filled out the Evaluation of Requirements of Nurse Teachers (ERNT) instrument. Educators' mean working experience was 12.9 years (SD 9.2); 86.3 % were permanently employed and 76.8 % had formal supervision training. RESULTS: The nurse educators rated their competence as good on all competence domains and single competence items, and ERNT total mean score was 4.62 (SD 0.28), with relationship with the students rated highest and personality factors rated lowest. The ERNT total mean score was significantly related to academic degree. CONCLUSIONS: Educational leaders in nursing education are recommended to establish a mentoring and supporting team for their educators.

Online degree programmes in nurse education-Students' perceptions and academic performance: An integrative review.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this integrative review is to identify, describe, and synthesise evidence regarding students' perceptions of online degree programmes in nurse education, their academic performance, and the factors associated with their academic performance. DESIGN: Integrative review. DATA SOURCES: Four databases, CINAHL, ERIC (Ebsco), PubMed/MEDLINE, and Web of Science were searched. The reference lists of included studies were reviewed to identify other relevant studies. REVIEW METHODS: Whittemore and Knafl's method was used as a guideline for the integrative review. Peer-reviewed studies describing students' perceptions of-or academic performance in-online degree programmes in nurse education were included in the review without time limitations. The quality of the selected article was assessed using the Mixed Method Appraisal Tool. RESULTS: Nursing students' perceptions of online degree programmes were categorised into enabling career development, content delivered online, and community belonging. Factors related to student's academic performance were associated with individual students and the characteristics of online learning environments. Factors associated with students' academic performance were individual self-direction, formal communication skills, and working and educational backgrounds. Factors associated with academic performance in an online learning environment were categorised into regular feedback and methods for learning. CONCLUSIONS: Online degree programmes in nurse education contribute to developing pedagogy through a satisfactory work-life balance, students' experiences of community and support, pleasant digital content, and various teaching methods by faculties. The study findings of this review have implications for educators to develop and adopt strategies for advancing digital environments with the pedagogy that supports community building to meet the needs of individual students.

Effectiveness of an Occupational Well-being Intervention Among Nurse Educators: A Quasi-Experimental Study.

BACKGROUND: Occupational well-being supports the retention of the nurse educator workforce and their ability to manage workload. There is a research gap regarding interventions promoting occupational well-being. PURPOSE: To evaluate the effectiveness of an 8-workweek digital occupational well-being intervention using self-conducted exercises among nurse educators in secondary vocational nursing schools in Finland. METHODS: A quasi-experimental study design was applied using an intervention group (n = 37) and a control group (n = 40). Data were collected at baseline, post, and 1-month follow-up using a questionnaire and a heart rate sensor to assess the resource-workload-balance and its associating and promoting factors. RESULTS: This study found no statistical effects on the resource-workload-balance. Positive effects were found on associating factors (general well-being) and promoting factors (recovery experiences and self-regulation). CONCLUSIONS: Self-Help INtervention for Educators (SHINE) has the potential to promote recovery experiences during working hours; however, the intervention needs more investigation.

Professional competence, personal occupational well-being, and mental workload of nurse educators - A cross-sectional study in four European countries.

BACKGROUND: Nurse educators need a high level of professional competence to educate future health care professionals. Professional competence supports occupational well-being whilst high mental workload can undermine it. There is little existing research into nurse educators' professional competence, occupational well-being, mental workload, and the relationships between them, particularly in the European context. OBJECTIVES: To describe the professional competence, personal occupational well-being, and mental workload of nurse educators in four European countries, and to explore how the professional competence and mental workload of nurse educators relate to their personal occupational well-being. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study design with quantitative survey data. SETTING: Nurse educators from Finland, Spain, Slovakia, and Malta. METHODS: The data were collected from 302 nurse educators through an online questionnaire which used the Health and Social Care Educator's Competence (HeSoEduCo) instrument. This contains 43 items which measure areas of professional competence. Statistical analysis involved descriptive and multivariate analysis. RESULTS: Nurse educators self-assessed their overall professional competence as high. Competence in evidence-based practice was assessed as the highest whilst cultural competence was perceived to be the lowest of the six competence areas. Nurse educators perceived their levels of personal occupational well-being and the balance of mental workload as moderate. However, these levels varied between the four countries. Professional competence, more specifically administrative and curriculum competence, and a balanced mental workload were positively related to personal occupational well-being. CONCLUSIONS: The educators who perceive themselves to have very good professional competence and a balanced mental workload are more likely to report high occupational well-being. The findings suggest that nurse educators' cultural competence needs to be strengthened and intervention research is needed to determine ways of reducing mental workload and increasing the occupational well-being of nurse educators.

Nurse educator competence in four European countries-A comparative cross-sectional study.

AIM: The aim of this article is to describe and compare the nurse educator competences in four European countries using three different evaluators: nurse educators (n = 329), heads of a nursing subject (n = 60) and student nurses (n = 1058). DESIGN: The study was conducted as a comparative cross-sectional survey in Finland, Malta, Slovakia and Spain between May 2021 and February 2022. METHODS: The data were collected with an online survey. The instrument used was a 20-item Tool for Evaluation of Requirements of Nurse Teachers, utilizing a 5-point Likert-type scale. The data were analysed statistically and reported according to STROBE guidelines. RESULTS: Nurse educators' competence evaluated positively in all the groups of evaluators, with a mean of >3.5. The self-evaluation of nurse educators' competence was higher than the other evaluators' evaluations. Having a degree in nursing, having completed some pedagogical studies and longer work experience as a nurse educator had a positive association with higher self-evaluated competence among nurse educators. CONCLUSIONS: Nurse educator competence is at a good level in the selected European countries, but further studies are required to find the reasons behind the differences in evaluations. PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: Each participating educational institution named a contact person who distributed the surveys to the participants and returned the study's metadata to the researchers.

A successful nursing education promotes newly graduated nurses' job satisfaction one year after graduation: a cross-sectional multi-country study.

BACKGROUND: Job satisfaction is a key factor for the successful transition of newly graduated nurses (NGNs) and for retaining NGNs in their workplaces. However, there is limited evidence of the relationship between satisfaction regarding the nursing education program and NGNs' job satisfaction in the first year after graduation. Therefore, this study aims to examine the association of the nursing education related factors and NGNs' job satisfaction. METHODS: A cross-sectional study design with the utilization of data collected from the same respondents one year earlier as educational factors was applied. The data were collected from NGNs (n = 557) in 10 European countries using an electronic survey between February 2019 and September 2020, and analyzed in detail for four countries (n = 417). Job satisfaction was measured with three questions: satisfaction with current job, quality of care in the workplace, and nursing profession. Nursing education related factors were satisfaction with nursing education program, level of study achievements, nursing as the 1st study choice, intention to stay in nursing, and generic nursing competence. The data were analyzed statistically using logistic regression. RESULTS: Most of the NGNs in the 10 countries were satisfied with their current job (88.3%), the quality of care (86.4%) and nursing profession (83.8%). Finnish, German, Lithuanian and Spanish NGNs' satisfaction with the nursing education program at graduation was statistically significantly associated with their job satisfaction, i.e., satisfaction with their current job, the quality of care, and the nursing profession. Moreover, NGNs who had fairly often or very often intention to stay in nursing at graduation were more satisfied with their current job, with the quality of care, and with the nursing profession compared with NGNs who had never or fairly seldom intention to stay in nursing at graduation. CONCLUSIONS: Nursing education plays a significant role in NGNs' job satisfaction one year after graduation, indicating the importance to start career planning already during nursing education. Both nursing education providers and healthcare organizations could plan in close collaboration a transition program for NGNs to ease the transition phase and thus increase the NGNs' job satisfaction and ultimately the high-quality care of the patients.

Self-reported competence level of occupational health care professionals in work ability risk management and analysis.

BACKGROUND: The management and analysis of work ability risks is important to support well-being at work and requires multidimensional competence. Competence evaluation in Occupational Health Care professionals' (OHCP) practice is essential for their professional development and promotion of quality of care. OBJECTIVE: To describe OHCPs' self-reported competence level to manage and analyze work ability risks. METHODS: A descriptive, cross-sectional study design was applied. The data were collected electronically from May to June 2018 using the Comp-WARMA instrument (scale 1 = poor - 4 = excellent) from Occupational Health Care professionals working in Finnish private medical centers (n = 169, response rate of 10%). The data were analyzed statistically. RESULTS: The levels of knowledge and skills of OHCP in work ability risk management and analysis were mainly at good level (3.22 on average), but some deficient were still identified. The knowledge and skills of the work ability risk management and analysis were associated with the number of customer organizations they worked with, their attendance of supplementary training regarding work ability risk management and analysis, their amount of work experience, their type of employment, age, and gender. CONCLUSION: OHCP self-reported competence levels in work ability risk management and analysis was at good level. There is a need for development in all areas of work ability risk management and analysis. OHCP could benefit from in-service education on work ability risk management and analysis. Further validation of the Comp-WARMA instrument in larger sample is needed.

Instruments assessing nurse educator's competence: A scoping review.

AIM: The aim of this review was to synthesize the instruments that assess nurse educators' competence. DESIGN: A scoping review was conducted with the five-stage process informed by Arksey and O'Malley. REVIEW METHODS: The predetermined search strategy was used including an additional hand search. The studies were selected according to inclusion and exclusion criteria to answer the research questions followed: (1) "What instruments are used to assess nurse educators' competence?", (2) "How are the psychometric properties of nurse educators' competence instruments reported in the literature?". The thematic synthesis was used. DATA SOURCES: The literature search was conducted in January 2021 using the CINAHL, MEDLINE and ERIC databases from January 2000 to December 2020. RESULTS: Of the 1,567 articles searched through, 25 met the inclusion criteria. A total of 19 instruments with 10 areas of competence were identified. Typical competence areas were pedagogical and nursing competence. In addition, leadership in managerial competence was included in several instruments. However, the theoretical backgrounds of the instruments varied and the psychometric properties were reported in varied ways in reviewed studies. IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PROFESSION: This study provides evidence about the valid and comprehensive assessment of nurse educators' competence, as competent nurse educators promote excellence in nursing education. To assess a nurse educators' competence comprehensively, a variety of theoretical backgrounds of this competence and more than one instrument for the measurement need to be considered. The selection of the instruments to assess nurse educators' competence should be based on the selected theoretical background and use of valid measurements. REPORTING METHOD: This study was reported by following the reporting recommendations of the PRISMA extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: No Patient or Public Contribution was applied, since research design was a scoping review.

An integrative review of the continuing professional development needs for nurse educators.

OBJECTIVES: The study aimed at describing the field of research in continuing professional development for nurse educators and the continuous education and development needs of nurse educators by asking: What research has been done in the field of continuing professional development of nurse educators? What are the continuing education and development needs and requirements reported for and by nurse educators? DESIGN: An integrative review of peer-reviewed academic literature following a systematic search design. DATA SOURCES: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods publications in CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase, ERIC, and PubMed. REVIEW METHODS: Search results were screened for full text and assessed for quality using the Mixed Methods Assessment Tool. Full texts were then thematic analysed using an inductive and reflective process. RESULTS: The number of published academic articles about the continuing professional development for nurse educators is small (n = 13). The themes produced from the articles identify heterogenous development needs for nurse educators, clustered around four themes: (1) professional competencies (2) management and resources, (3) communication and collaboration, and (4) agency. The findings of this review show that nurse educators have multiple roles which have specific and multiple personal and institutional needs. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this review show that the continuing professional development needs are heterogenous between nurse educators, yet share commonalities across departmental teams as a whole, and across different countries. This raises the issue of how these needs can or should be, focused on the sustainable development of nurse educators.

Deep learning accurately classifies elbow joint effusion in adult and pediatric radiographs.

Joint effusion due to elbow fractures are common among adults and children. Radiography is the most commonly used imaging procedure to diagnose elbow injuries. The purpose of the study was to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of deep convolutional neural network algorithms in joint effusion classification in pediatric and adult elbow radiographs. This retrospective study consisted of a total of 4423 radiographs in a 3-year period from 2017 to 2020. Data was randomly separated into training (n = 2672), validation (n = 892) and test set (n = 859). Two models using VGG16 as the base architecture were trained with either only lateral projection or with four projections (AP, LAT and Obliques). Three radiologists evaluated joint effusion separately on the test set. Accuracy, precision, recall, specificity, F1 measure, Cohen's kappa, and two-sided 95% confidence intervals were calculated. Mean patient age was 34.4 years (1-98) and 47% were male patients. Trained deep learning framework showed an AUC of 0.951 (95% CI 0.946-0.955) and 0.906 (95% CI 0.89-0.91) for the lateral and four projection elbow joint images in the test set, respectively. Adult and pediatric patient groups separately showed an AUC of 0.966 and 0.924, respectively. Radiologists showed an average accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, precision, F1 score, and AUC of 92.8%, 91.7%, 93.6%, 91.07%, 91.4%, and 92.6%. There were no statistically significant differences between AUC's of the deep learning model and the radiologists (p value > 0.05). The model on the lateral dataset resulted in higher AUC compared to the model with four projection datasets. Using deep learning it is possible to achieve expert level diagnostic accuracy in elbow joint effusion classification in pediatric and adult radiographs. Deep learning used in this study can classify joint effusion in radiographs and can be used in image interpretation as an aid for radiologists.

The nurse teacher's pedagogical cooperation with students, the clinical learning environment and supervision in clinical practicum: a European cross-sectional study of graduating nursing students.

BACKGROUND: A supportive clinical practicum experience may enhance the successful transition and socialization to working life of graduating nursing students. Nurse teachers have the main responsibility of supporting and guiding nursing students with their pedagogical expertise during the students' clinical practicum. Thus, the clinical role of nurse teachers is seen as an essential part of a high-quality clinical practicum. Nursing students appreciate the nurse teacher's cooperation with students, but it is often reported to be unattainable. The aim of this study was to explore and compare graduating nursing students' experiences of the nurse teacher's pedagogical cooperation with students, the clinical learning environment and supervision in their final clinical practicum, and to analyze factors associated with these experiences in six European countries. METHODS: A cross-sectional comparative international survey design was used. The modified Clinical Learning Environment, Supervision and Nurse Teacher (CLES+T) Scale, with a new subscale measuring the nurse teacher's pedagogical cooperation with students, was used. A convenience sample of graduating nursing students in Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Lithuania and Spain completed the online survey in 2018-2019. The data were analyzed using a Chi-Square test, Pearson's correlation coefficients, and linear models. RESULTS: A total of 1796 (response rate 49%) nursing students completed the survey. Overall, students had positive experiences of the nurse teacher's pedagogical cooperation, the clinical learning environment and supervision in their final clinical practicum. Students in Spain had the most positive experiences. Educational background factors appeared to be associated with the students' experiences of the nurse teacher's pedagogical cooperation with students, the clinical learning environment and supervision. The relationships between the subscale Nurse teacher's pedagogical cooperation with students and the Clinical Learning Environment and Supervision Scale were perceived as weak to strong depending on the country. CONCLUSIONS: This study reveals that nurse teachers play an essential role in supporting and guiding nursing students' final clinical practicum. In this light, researchers, educators, and leaders should collaborate seamlessly between educational institutions and healthcare organizations to establish the nurse teachers' pedagogical cooperation role within the clinical learning environment.

The Appearance of Digital Competence in the Work of Health Sciences Educators: A Cross-sectional Study.

The digital competence of health sciences educators is important for the delivery and development of modern education and lifelong learning. The aim of the study was to assess the appearance of digital competence in the work of Finnish health sciences educators and to determine whether educators' background factors are related to the areas of digital competence appearance. The European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators was used as a theoretical background. The participants were Finnish health sciences educators (n = 388). Data were collected by quantitative survey and statistically analyzed. Results show that health sciences educators had participated in continuing education to develop their expertise and used a variety of digital methods and materials. Educators need more competence to improve healthcare students' ability to use digital technology. In the area of Teaching and Learning, educators younger than 40 years rated the appearance of digital competence as better than did those between the ages of 40 and 49 years. In the future, health sciences educators' basic and continuing education could take into account the competence requirements for digital competence, and educators' expertise must be increased in areas where digital competence does not appear strong.

An Integrative Review of Interprofessional Teamwork and Required Competence in Specialized Palliative Care.

To deliver quality care, social and healthcare professionals should be competent both in their own professional work and interprofessionally. The aim of this integrative review was to describe interprofessional teamwork and the required competencies for teamwork in specialized palliative care. Totally 14 studies published between 2003 and 2020 were included in the review. Interprofessional teamwork was described from the patients and professionals' perspective. The required interprofessional competencies were described as teamwork knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values. Interprofessional teamwork is one of the essential factors in providing holistic and ethically sustainable care to palliative patients. The way how professionals confront death and dying effects the whole team; this suggests that support practices are important in palliative care settings. Ascertaining the interprofessional competence in palliative care will produce better collaborative practices and increase the care outcomes. The findings can be used as a framework when developing interventions to promote clinical and educational practices.

The Perspectives of Healthcare Teachers on Their Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Three-Dimensional Technology: A Mixed Methods Study.

In the future, healthcare teachers will need to have evidence-based teaching strategies. Moreover, three-dimensional technology is a promising element to support teaching. This mixed methods study aimed to describe the self-reported insight of healthcare teachers in relation to their knowledge of the utilization of technology, in general, and, more specifically, three-dimensional technology, in their healthcare teaching. The Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge framework served as the theoretical base for this study. A survey (n = 55) and interviews (n = 17) were carried out on Finnish healthcare teachers at vocational institutes. The analysis was guided by the TPACK-deep scale. Teachers found three-dimensional technology to be a positive addition to their teaching and use of three-dimensional technology was also quite incidental, focusing on three-dimensional images and three-dimensional environments rather than three-dimensional printing or three-dimensional holograms. Additionally, different themes emphasizing the elements teachers should focus on when implementing three-dimensional technology in their teaching emerged. An example of these was time usage. This study found that, despite there being several elements that teachers should prepare for and implement before utilizing three-dimensional technology, teachers should see three-dimensional technology as a promising technology for use in healthcare education.

Nursing students' self-directed learning abilities and related factors at graduation: A multi-country cross-sectional study.

AIM: To describe nursing students' level of self-directed learning abilities and identify possible factors related to it at graduation in six European countries. DESIGN: A cross-sectional comparative design across the countries. METHODS: The study was conducted from February 2018 to September 2019. Nursing students (N = 4,135) from the Czech Republic, Finland, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain were invited to respond to the research instruments (the Self-Rating Scale of Self-Directed Learning and the Nurse Competence Scale) at graduation. The data were analysed using the chi-square test, Pearson correlation coefficient and the linear model. RESULTS: The nursing students' (N = 1,746) overall self-directed learning abilities were at high level in all countries. Statistically significant differences occurred between countries. Spanish nursing students reported the highest level of self-directed learning abilities while students from the Czech Republic reported the lowest. Higher level of self-directed learning abilities was related to several factors, particularly with the self-assessed level of competence and country.

Learning goals and content for wound care education in Finnish nursing education - A Delphi study.

BACKGROUND: Caring for patients with wounds requires diverse competences from nursing professionals. However, wound care education in undergraduate nursing education is often fragmented and lacks consistent learning goals and content. OBJECTIVES: To create learning goals and content for wound care education in Bachelor's level nursing education in Finland and to assess the consensus relating to these learning goals and content among wound care experts. DESIGN: A consensus-building approach using the Delphi technique. SETTINGS: A Delphi panel of wound care experts built on an online platform. PARTICIPANTS: The participants of the Delphi panel were registered nurses, authorised wound care nurses, nurse educators and physicians. METHODS: Learning goals and content for wound care education which had been formulated on the basis of previous focus-group interviews were presented to the Delphi panel. The data were collected in 2021 with two online Delphi rounds: 51 panellists participated in the first round and 36 in the second round. The data were analysed using statistical and qualitative analysis. RESULTS: Learning goals and content were divided into four competence areas: 1) Anatomy and physiology, 2) Care of chronic and acute wounds, 3) Wound management and care of a patient with a wound, 4) Values and attitudes. These competence areas comprised 26 learning goals and 29 pieces of content. The consensus between the panellists was high, at >90% in all competence areas. CONCLUSIONS: The basis of registered nurses' wound care competence is built during their undergraduate nursing studies. The results of this study can be used to standardise wound care education by implementing consistent learning goals and content in Bachelor's level nursing education.

A European evaluation of the patients' role in clinical education: A six-country cross sectional study.

AIM: The aim of this study was to analyse the patients' role in clinical education in terms of facilitative student-patient relationship in Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Lithuania and Spain and factors promoting a more facilitative relationship in clinical education. BACKGROUND: Nursing students' bedside learning is reliant on patients and the establishment of a person-centred approach develops from the relationships with patients. DESIGN: A multi-country, cross-sectional design was implemented. METHODS: Survey data were collected from graduating nursing students and patients between May 2018 and March 2019. The survey consisted of a 13-item facilitative sub-scale of the Student-Patient Relationship Scale as the main outcome measure, which was identical for both populations. In addition, background factors were surveyed with single questions and other scales. Associations between facilitative relationship and background factors were studied with linear models. RESULTS: Altogether, 1796 students and 1327 patients answered the survey. Overall, both students and patients regarded their relationship as facilitative, but students' (median 4.23, 95% confidence interval 4.15-4.23) evaluations were higher than patients' (median 3.75, 95% confidence interval 3.69-3.77). The students' and patients' evaluations differed from each other significantly in all other countries except in Ireland and Lithuania. Corresponding associations for both populations were found in terms of the country and students' cultural confidence. CONCLUSIONS: Results signal favourable grounds for students' bedside learning and patient participation in clinical education with the potential to foster a person-centred approach.

Patients and family members´ perceptions of interprofessional teamwork in palliative care: A qualitative descriptive study.

AIMS: To describe patients and family members' perceptions of interprofessional teamwork in specialised palliative care. BACKGROUND: Interprofessional teamwork is essential when delivering high-quality palliative care. Little attention has been paid to patients and family members' perceptions. DESIGN: A qualitative descriptive design. METHODS: Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with 20 palliative patients and family members (n = 19) in four palliative wards, which were collected from May 2019 to November 2019. Data were analysed using inductive content analysis. COREQ guidelines were followed. RESULTS: Patients' perceptions of interprofessional teamwork were described as the nature of interprofessional teamwork, a sense of community and patient participation. Family members' perceptions of interprofessional teamwork were described as the nature of interprofessional teamwork, the diverse expertise and the sense of community. Patients and family members' perceptions of interprofessional teamwork were nearly identical and were based on observed social situations or their assumptions. They trust that professionals are working interprofessionally, even if the teamwork cannot be observed. In palliative care, the nature of interprofessional care changes together with patients' condition and family members progressively need more professional support. CONCLUSIONS: Conducting interprofessional care more openly could benefit the availability of different professionals' competence to patients and family members. In palliative care, the nature of interprofessional teamwork changes together with the patients' health condition. More information is needed about what constitutes an interprofessional framework and the required interprofessional competencies in palliative care. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The findings show the importance of considering the patient's health status when interprofessional care is planned. However, professionals should recognise that a patient's weakening condition changes the focus more to the needs of the family members. It is acknowledged that IP teamwork requires time, but in PC settings, spending time on collaborative practices is not always possible.