A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF PARTICIPANT RESPONSES TO SUCCESSES AND CHALLENGES FOLLOWING INTERPROFESSIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING

R. Barredo¹, C. St. Dennis², T. Smith³, C. Hamilton⁴, M. Revell⁵

¹Tennessee State University, College of Health Sciences, Nashville, United States, ²Tennessee State University, Department of Occupational Therapy, Nashville, United States, ³Tennessee State University, Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, Nashville, United States, ⁴Tennessee State University, Department of Respiratory Care and Health Information, Nashville, United States, ⁵Tennessee State University, School of Nursing, Nashville, United States

Background: Interprofessional education and training are essential to professional health care practice. Educational programs are tasked with ensuring that prospective practitioners function effectively in a team environment to optimize patient outcomes.

Purpose: This study examined student perceptions of the effectiveness of an institutional interprofessional training exercise (IPTE) in facilitating the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) core competences (values and ethics; roles and responsibilities for collaborative practice; interprofessional communication; teamwork and team-based care). This study focused on a qualitative analysis of participant responses to successes and challenges experienced during the IPTE.

Methods: A college-wide IPTE was conducted with students from a number of programs in the college. Interprofessional teams were developed for the purpose of developing plans of care based on a case provided to the teams. A general session was conducted covering topics such as interprofessionalism, interprofessional competencies, and scopes of practice. A post-event survey addressing event logistics, attainment of IPEC core competencies, and strengths and challenges was sent electronically to participants. Responses to open-ended questions were analyzed through thematic analysis. The emergent themes were coded and validated through participant ratings of the IPEC core competencies.

Results: Strengths: Participant responses indicated that the event was effective in promoting communication and collaboration/teamwork. Representative quotes for communication include:

• All disciplines wanted to hear what the others had to say.
• We were able to communicate clearly, and everyone was able to speak.

Representative quotes for collaboration/teamwork include:

• We were able to discuss each discipline's role and identify similarities in interventions.
• We were able to ask each other questions about our specific disciplines and come up with goals to address more than one area of practice.

Challenges: Three emergent themes were evident: prioritization, professional myopia, and absence of team members. Representative quotes for prioritization include:

• [It was difficult] agreeing on goals... pulling goals together that fit everyone… picking goals that covered all.
• [It was a challenge] focusing in on the most important thing.

Representative quotes for professional myopia include:

• Trying to keep the conversation on the big picture. Each discipline tended to sink into the minutia of their area of expertise and not realize that interdisciplinary work required finding common ground and trusting and respecting each other to deal with our area of expertise competently.
• [It was a challenge] making sure everyone was on the same page… finding ways to meet in the middle.

Representative quotes for absence of team members include:

• We were missing a couple team members... and that made it a little more challenging.
• Our group was missing important members, and as a result it was harder to figure out how we would go about addressing the problems and in which progression it should go.

Conclusions: Qualitative feedback from the participants of an institutional IPET indicated that the exercise facilitated communication and collaboration/teamwork. Challenges included prioritization, professional myopia, and absence of team members.

Implications: IPEC core competencies need to be a part of the educational experience. This study identified the strengths and challenges experienced by interprofessional teams in developing a team-based plan of care for the patient.

Funding acknowledgements: No funding was received during the conduct of this study.

Keywords:
Interprofessional education
IPEC core competencies
Professional practice

Topics:
Education
Professional issues

Did this work require ethics approval? Yes

Institution: Tennessee State University

Committee: Institutional Review Board

Ethics number: HS-2021-4663