Understanding roles in health care through interprofessional educational experiences

Area of Science:

• Healthcare education
• Interprofessional collaboration

Background:

• Interprofessional education (IPE) is crucial for healthcare students to navigate team dynamics.
• Understanding individual roles and respecting colleagues' responsibilities is vital in healthcare settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess nursing students' perceptions of professional roles and responsibilities after participating in an interprofessional education (IPE) event.

Main Methods:

• Undergraduate nursing students engaged in a two-day IPE event.
• Participants included students from physician assistant (PA), pharmacy, and physical therapy (PT) programs.

Main Results:

• Key themes identified were self-perception and perception of others.
• Results indicated frequent misunderstandings regarding healthcare roles and responsibilities.

Conclusions:

• Healthcare educators must prioritize teaching role expectations and responsibilities within and across professions.
• Foundational education in healthcare curricula should include interprofessional role understanding.