Fostering interprofessional collaborative practice in acute care through an academic-practice partnership.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Interprofessional Education
• Patient Safety

Background:

• Academic-practice partnerships can foster interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP).
• Action research empowers healthcare professionals in implementing new strategies.
• Existing IPCP models require evaluation for effectiveness in acute care settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To implement and evaluate an interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) environment within acute care units.
• To assess the impact of an academic-practice partnership on healthcare professionals, students, and patient outcomes.
• To promote ownership and sustainability of IPCP strategies through action research.

Main Methods:

• An action research methodology guided the implementation of IPCP across four inpatient acute care units.
• Interventions included staff engagement, coaching, and education within an academic-practice partnership.
• Data collected included participant surveys, student post-clinical surveys, and unit-level healthcare outcome measures.

Main Results:

• Healthcare professionals showed positive trends in collaboration and safety culture, though not statistically significant.
• Students demonstrated statistically significant positive learning outcomes from clinical experiences.
• Significant decreases in hospital readmissions and catheter-associated urinary tract infections were observed.

Conclusions:

• Academic-practice partnerships effectively support and strengthen interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) environments.
• Direct clinician involvement in selecting and implementing IPCP strategies is key to success.
• The partnership model contributed to improved professional, student, and healthcare outcomes.