Interprofessional education focused on medication safety: a systematic review

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Education
• Patient Safety
• Interprofessional Collaboration

Background:

• Safe medication use requires effective interprofessional collaboration among healthcare professionals (HCPs).
• Enhancing interprofessional education (IPE) focused on medication safety (MS) within HCP curricula is a recognized need.
• Limited understanding exists regarding the design, delivery, and evaluation of MS-focused IPE activities.

Approach:

• A systematic literature review was conducted, searching MedLine, EMBASE, CINAHL, and ERIC for relevant studies.
• Thirty-one studies, reporting on 30 activities primarily in North America and the UK, were included.
• The McGill Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool and 3P (presage-process-product) theory guided the analysis.

Key Points:

• Most activities involved diverse HCP students (e.g., pharmacy, nursing, medical) but rarely matched student skills or reported theoretical underpinnings.
• Pedagogical approaches included social construction and simulation-based learning; formative assessments were more common than summative.
• Evaluated outcomes primarily focused on learner attitudes and satisfaction, with limited reporting on specific medication safety skill development.

Conclusions:

• Medication safety-focused IPE is positively received by pre-qualification healthcare students.
• Future IPE design should integrate theoretical frameworks and better match student groups' attributes for enhanced learning.
• Improved integration into curricula, defined learning outcomes, and higher-quality research are needed to advance MS-focused IPE and safe medication practices.