Teaching Interprofessionalism to Nursing Students:A Learning Experience Based on Allport's Intergroup Contact Theory

Abstract

FACULTY SEEKING TO CREATE LEARNING ACTIVITIES THAT FACILITATE EXPOSURE TO AND ENHANCE THE LEARNING OF INTERPROFESSIONAL (IP) HEALTH CARE TEAM BEHAVIORS WILL BENEFIT FROM AN UNDERSTANDING OF GROUP PROCESSES AS ADVOCATED BY SOCIAL SCIENTIST GORDON ALLPORT. In 1954, Allport postulated that prejudice or stereotyping within groups can interfere with the successful functioning of groups, and that just putting individuals together and expecting them to function is not enough (Pettigrew, 1998). Today's nursing students must be academically and experientially prepared to participate in the IP environment in order to assimilate the roles expected by employers and provide the highest quality patient care (Lindqvist & Reeves, 2007; Sullivan & Godfrey, 2012). However, while interprofessionalism is inherent in what nurses do every day in performing their job, there is often little focus on IP within nursing education. As the system of delivery of health care services changes to include the IP health care team process, the educational preparation of health care providers will have to evolve (Gillespie & McFetridge, 2006). This article provides a brief theoretical framework to support the development of team-oriented thinking and behavior through the use of faculty-guided learning experiences whereby nursing students can learn the skills necessary for working in IP health care teams. An example of a learning experience that can take place early in the student's nursing education, in a didactic setting, is provided. Barriers to Interprofessionalism The IP health care team is characterized as a group of health care professionals from various disciplines who share the responsibility of collaborative decision-making to achieve desired patient goals (McCallin & Bamford, 2007). A distinct focus on team-based health care delivery allows this group to address complex patient needs within a structure that also considers the full spectrum of care, including quality of service, its cost, and access to health care. The goal of the team partnership is joint decision-making to achieve patient-centered outcomes using collaborative knowledge, skills, and varied professional perspectives (Jansen, 2008; Johanson, 2008, Royeen, Jensen, & Harvan, 2009). Working under such complex conditions requires collaboration, team decision-making, and assertiveness and self-confidence, as well as a balance between one's profession and the team activities (Atwal & Caldwell, 2006; Kvarnstrom, 2008; Young, Baker, Waller, Hodgson, & Moor, 2007). However, researchers have identified barriers to the team approach, including varying perceptions of teamwork, differing ability levels in team members, stereotyping behaviors, and the potential for one profession, specifically medicine, to exert dominance over the others (Atwal & Caldwell; Gilbert, 2005; Royeen et al., 2009). McCallin and Bamford (2007) suggested that to change stereotypical perceptions attached to other professions, team members use communication techniques such as pluralistic dialoguing, which recognizes and respects the notion that alternative points of view have merit. Participants in this mode of communication are open to various perspectives and have a good understanding of the roles and skills of other practitioners. Interprofessional Education and AIIport's Intergroup Contact Hypothesis In an academic environment that seeks to promote IP education, simply creating a class roster of students from various professions and expecting the students to accept the perspectives of the individual professions represented in the class are not sufficient to create the attitudes necessary to function as an IP team in providing patient care (Lidskog, Lo, Mark, & Ahlstrom, 2007). Allport's intergroup contact hypothesis holds that prejudice can be reduced within and among groups and that there can be positive attitude changes in a group if certain elements exist. …