Students’ perceptions of interprofessional collaboration on the care of diabetes: A qualitative study

Sanna Kangas,Pia Jaatinen,Saara Metso,Eija Paavilainen,Tuula-Maria Rintala

doi:10.1016/j.nepr.2021.103023

Abstract

Interprofessional education can promote healthcare professionals' competence to work in interprofessional collaboration, which is essential for the quality and safety of care. An interprofessional approach is particularly important in complex, chronic diseases like diabetes. This qualitative study evaluated changes in medical and nursing students' perceptions of interprofessional collaboration, induced by a novel interprofessional education course on diabetes care with practical elements. Data from focus-group interviews of 30 students before and after the course were analyzed by using inductive and deductive content analysis. The students’ perceptions were illustrated as Elements of Collaborative Care (e.g. Quality of professional care relationship) and Elements of Interprofessional Collaboration (e.g. Importance of communication and Valuation of collaboration). The post-course interviews added one subcategory (Need of resources) to the pre-course perceptions, and there was improvement in ten areas of self-perceived competence in performing or understanding interprofessional collaboration on diabetes care. The course improved the students' self-perceived competence and confidence in interprofessional collaboration on the care of patients with diabetes, and their understanding of interprofessional collaboration changed towards a more patient-centred and holistic perspective. The findings support further implementation of IPE with practical elements in future health professionals’ education.

Highlights

As today’s health care professionals are facing challenges in a frag mented and constantly changing health care system and treating pa tients with increasingly complex health issues, interprofessional collaboration (IPC) and interprofessional education (IPE) are high lighted as an essential solution in managing it (World Health Organi zation, 2010; Roing et al, 2018; Institute of Medicine, 2015)
There is a growing body of evidence relating the quality of collaboration and teamwork among health professionals to the quality and safety of health care delivery in acute conditions (e.g. Schmutz and Manser, 2013), as well as in chronic diseases (e.g. Korner et al, 2016; Wagner, 2000)
Tampere University and Tampere University of Applied Sciences, Finland, organized a voluntary IPE pilot course called “Interprofessional Care of Diabetes” for 15 fourth year medical students and for 15 secondor third-year nursing students, who had previously finished their mandatory studies in diabetes care

Summary

Introduction

There is a growing body of evidence relating the quality of collaboration and teamwork among health professionals to the quality and safety of health care delivery in acute conditions An interprofessional collaborative approach is important in the care of complex, chronic diseases like diabetes, which is considered one of the most serious global health concerns of the century (International Diabetes Federation, 2019, 4–5). The key to successful diabetes man agement is team-based care provided by competent, skillful pro fessionals, who know how to best work together (International Diabetes Federation, 2019, 83, Cuddihy et al, 2011). Due to the com plex nature of the disease, managing diabetes care can be challenging for both the patient and the healthcare team (Ahola and Groop, 2013; Fredrix et al, 2018; International Diabetes Federation, 2019, 83). The vital insulin care of hospitalized patients with diabetes can be a burden for nurses and patients, due to delays in prescribing and reviewing insulin, which could be avoided by coordination and communication between and within multiple interprofessional teams (Atsalos et al, 2019; Tingle, 2012)

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