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. 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. 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. 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.

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

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has significantly influenced the normal operations of all human affairs on a global scale. Indeed, the pandemic has had a considerable impact on the delivery of medical education in the UK for both pre-clinical and clinical year students. In response to the escalating case fatality rate due to the pandemic, there has been widespread termination of clinical placements, face-to-face teaching sessions, and examinations that require a physical presence by UK medical schools. It is hoped that the cancellation of the aforementioned activities will greatly reduce the exposure of medical students to the coronavirus however, the consequences of these actions may pose substantial issues for the learning experience and professional development of medical students. One such issue is the lack of regular communication between students and personal tutors which may give rise to burnout within students and impede academic performance. Furthermore, the suspension of clinical placements may result in a gradual reduction in students' clinical skills competence. The practice of medicine is grounded upon the application of basic science which involves undertaking clinical procedures and as such, students may be at a disadvantage due to the missed opportunity to refine these essential skills. In this article, we provide an overview of the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on medical education, specifically regarding curriculum delivery and assessment of students. We also adopt a holistic approach by considering the impact of the pandemic on the mental wellbeing of medical students during this unprecedented time. We offer pragmatic suggestions to uphold the quality of medical education such as the implementation of virtual interprofessional education sessions to solve clinical vignettes and virtual consultation skills with simulated patients. We conclude with suggested areas for future research to examine the effectiveness of a virtual interprofessional education model on both short and long-term learning as well as encouraging medical students and academic staff to trial innovative methods of teaching. Despite the resultant complications of the pandemic on medical education, these challenging times may present a serendipitous opportunity for medical students to cultivate the personal attributes expected of a doctor in the face of adversity. In light of the pandemic, there is scope to reconsider the effectiveness of current medical education and welcome innovative methods of delivering education whilst ensuring quality. The combination of recent telecommunication developments with current teaching methodologies may positively change the future landscape of medical education.

Understanding the consequence of COVID-19 on undergraduate medical education: Medical students' perspective.

Background:Burn units are intensive care facilities specialized in the treatment of patients with severe burns. As burn injuries have a major impact in physical, psychosocial, and spiritual health,...

Do patients, families, and healthcare teams benefit from the integration of palliative care in burn intensive care units? Results from a systematic review with narrative synthesis.

During interprofessional clinical practice, compared to understanding of one’s own professional role and function, it might be more difficult to clarify the roles and contributions of the other health-care team members because of the inter-professional barrier In order to provide students the opportunity for real experience with other professions in team environments and enhance their perceptions of other professions’ roles, this study developed a comprehensive and multi-dimension extracurricular interprofessional education (IPE) model through designing and integrating a profession-role exchange component, that was medical students as pharmacists or nurses, pharmacy students as physicians or nurses, and nursing students as physicians or pharmacists in the interprofessional health-care student team, into the service learning experience in a real community setting In this pre/post-intervention study, the effect of integrated profession-role exchange experiences on the students’ attitudes towards interprofessional collaboration and their role clarification was evaluated among 60 student volunteers (20 medical students, 20 pharmacy students and 20 nursing students) All involved students were divided into the profession-role exchange intervention group and the control group Subjects in the control group did not participate the profession-role exchange experiences, the other IPE procedures were the same for both groups Three survey instruments for attitudes toward interprofessional clinical collaboration were respectively used to measure the students’ attitudes toward physician-pharmacist, physician-nurse and nurse-pharmacist collaborations “Roles and responsibilities” subscale of Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale was used to evaluate the overall role clarification during IPE Compared to the control IPE activity, the addition of profession-role exchange component resulted in the significant increase in students’ positive attitudes towards interprofessional collaboration, and the enhancement of students’ role awareness The profession-role exchange might be more effective and better initiate students to the practice of interprofessional collaboration, and could be used as an effective IPE tool for improving the role awareness of health-care students

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Use of profession-role exchange in an interprofessional student team-based community health service-learning experience

Im deutschen Rettungsdienst wird uber die kontinuierlich steigende Zahl von Notarzteinsatzen berichtet. Bisher lagen jedoch kaum Daten aus Grosstadten vor, die diese Veranderungen uber einen langeren Zeitraum darstellen. In einer retrospektiven Untersuchung wurden die Notarzteinsatze jeweils des Zeitraums 01. Januar bis 31. Marz der Jahre 2003 und 2013 der Stadt Leipzig ausgewertet. Neben der Notarzteinsatzrate (Notarzteinsatze/1000 Einwohner und Jahr) wurden die Erkrankungs- und Verletzungsschwere (National Advisory Committee of Aeronautics[NACA]-Score), der Einsatzort und der Versorgungsgrad der Zielklink erfasst. Die Zahl der Notarzteinsatze in den Beobachtungszeitraumen nahm zwischen 2003 und 2013 um 24 % (n = 6030 vs. n = 7470) und die Notarzteinsatzrate um 21 % (48 vs. 58) zu. Bei steigendem Patientenalter (66 vs. 70 Jahre) stieg der Anteil hochbetagter (Alter ≥ 85 Jahre: 11 % vs. 16 % (p < 0,01)) und der Anteil vital gefahrdeter Patienten (NACA IV–VI: 14 % vs. 16 % (p < 0,01)). Notarzteinsatze in Pflegeheimen vervierfachten sich (n = 175 (3 %) vs. n = 750 (10 %), p < 0,01); die Zahl der Krankenhauseinweisungen stieg an (n = 3049 (51 %) vs. n = 4738 (66 %), p < 0,01). Hierbei nahm masgeblich der Anteil Maximalversorgern zugefuhrter Patienten zu (n = 1742 (29 %) vs. n = 3436 (46 %), p < 0,01). Im Stadtgebiet Leipzig wurden zwischen 2003 und 2013 steigende Notarzteinsatzzahlen und ein Anstieg schwer erkrankter und geriatrischer Patienten nachgewiesen. Die im Vergleich zum Bundesdurchschnitt nahezu doppelt so hohe Notarzteinsatzrate kann jedoch auf Defizite im Bereich der ambulanten Grundversorgung und Optimierungsmoglichkeiten bei der Disposition der Rettungsleitstelle hinweisen.

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[Development of ground-based physician-staffed emergency missions in the city of Leipzig from 2003 to 2013].

Objective: In Germany there is little evidence of interprofessional problem-based learning (PBL) to date. For this reason a corresponding course for medical and nursing students was implemented. The goal was to analyse the feasibility and usefulness from the point of view of the students.

Method: For the purposes of evaluation a quantitative observational study was conducted with a pre-course survey, a teaching evaluation and a post-course survey. The pre- and post-course surveys took place before the commencement of and after the conclusion of learning. The teaching evaluation was carried out after the conclusion of the interprofessional course. In total there were five medical students and five nursing students who took part. The descriptive data analysis was carried out using the statistics software package SPSS. The data from the open text fields was transcribed and evaluated using qualitative content analysis.

Results: The students’ assessment of the interprofessional PBL was predominantly positive. They stated that they 


were able to expand their knowledge of the roles of the other profession, that 


the interprofessional course had a positive effect in terms of mutual appreciation and that 


the tutor had a positive influence on the interprofessional PBL due to his cooperative learning support. 





Suggestions for improvement were concerned with the expansion of the interprofessional exchange and the establishment of a set timetable for the tutorials.

Conclusion: The first study results of the Bildungscluster study can be used to make adjustments to the interprofessional PBL in order to be able to implement the course with a greater number of participants. Further studies are needed in order to comprehensively examine the learning effects and the impact on daily practice.

A model of interprofessional problem-based learning for medical and nursing students: Implementation, evaluation and implications for future implementation.

Zusammenfassung. Hintergrund: Die Alterung der Bevolkerung fuhrt zu einem Anstieg des Bedarfs an medizinischen und pflegerischen Versorgungsleistungen. Gleichzeitig altern auch die Akteure des Gesundheitswesens. Das Resultat ist eine Zunahme der medizinischen und pflegerischen Versorgungslucken. Daraus ergibt sich das Erfordernis, die Gesundheitsversorgung zu reformieren und unter anderem die Aufgabenfelder einzelner Akteure neu zu definieren. Fragestellung/Ziel: Der Artikel beschaftigt sich mit den Entwicklungen, Potenzialen und Grenzen der Aufgabenneuteilung von Pflege und Medizin. Ziel ist es, Ansatzpunkte fur die Konkretisierung bzgl. der Erwartungen, Wunsche und Grenzen der kunftigen Aufgabenteilung zu liefern. Methode: Im Rahmen der Care-N Study M-V erfolgte eine Delphi-Befragung des Typs Ideenaggregation. Ergebnisse: Aus Sicht der befragten Experten ubernehmen Pflegefachpersonen kunftig zunehmend Routineaufgaben in der medizinisch-pflegerischen Versorgung. Im Gegensatz zur Delegation wird die heilk...

[Expectations, requirements and limitations of future task sharing between the nursing profession and the medical profession: results from the Care-N Study M-V].

Background: Interprofessional teamwork has become increasingly important to provide patient centered care. Physicians and nurses as two major professions are needed to be adequately qualified. Interprofessional Education (IPE) is an eligible approach. Nevertheless, there is a lack of the impact for both professions. Therefore, we implemented and evaluated simulation training and a collaborative working sequence on a training ward. The aim was to analyze the course structure and assess learning effects to evaluate the suitability for IPE.
Methods: A mixed methods study with a sequential explanatory design was conducted. A total of five medical and five nursing students were involved. Students completed questionnaire based interviews after IPE lectures. Two group discussions were conducted to specify and expand quantitative evaluation results. For descriptive statistics, we used the software package SPSS. Both group discussions were analyzed by a qualitative content analysis using the software MAXQDA.
Results: Students rated IPE predominantly positive. The learning contents broadness and the links between theory and practice. Students identified six core learning effects: (1) Realization of the importance for collaborative working; (2) Gaining knowledge about the roles of both professions; (3) Realization, that interprofessional care facilitates work; (4) Practicing communication between physicians and nurses; (5) Improving collaborative communication with the patient; and (6) Understanding chances and challenges of joint decision making. Nevertheless, students suggested improvements, e.g., the scenarios of the simulation training should be expanded.
Conclusion: The results provide clear evidence that IPE by simulation training and a training ward is feasible and well accepted by students in a German medical school. Results can be used to adapt IPE lectures and to implement them for a larger number of students. The next step is to generalize findings and to sustainably implement IPE in both curricula.

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Sabine Homeyer

Papers

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

A model of interprofessional problem-based learning for medical and nursing students: Implementation, evaluation and implications for future implementation.

[Expectations, requirements and limitations of future task sharing between the nursing profession and the medical profession: results from the Care-N Study M-V].

Impact of Interprofessional Education for Medical and Nursing Students using Simulation Training and a Training Ward: A German Pilot Study

[Academic training of nursing professionals in Germany: further development of nursing expertise - results of the Care-N Study M-V].