Interprofessional education focused on medication safety: a systematic review

Safe medication use necessitates interprofessional working, with calls to enhance interprofessional education (IPE) focusing on medication safety (MS) in healthcare professional (HCP) curricula. Little is known about the design, delivery or evaluation of such activities. This systematic literature review describes MS-focused IPE activities in pre-qualification HCP programmes. MedLine, EMBASE, CINAHL and ERIC were searched, relevant studies identified and data extracted. The McGill Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool was employed. The 3P (presage-process-product) theory structured deductive analysis. Thirty-one studies were included, reporting on 30 activities, mostly undertaken in North America or United Kingdom. Presage/Design: Most reported activities involved pharmacy, nursing, medical or physician assistant students learning with one or more other HCP group. Few studies matched student groups' skills or experiences. Few studies reported theoretical underpinnings. Process/Delivery: Multiple pedagogical approaches were employed, mostly social construction, and low- and high-fidelity simulation-based learning. Few studies reported learning outcomes or summative assessment, more reported formative assessment. Product/evaluation: Outcomes measured were learners' opinions, satisfaction or attitudes toward interprofessional working and findings were generally positive. Few studies reported on student development or outcomes specific to medication safety. Lack of integration of qualitative/quantitative components of mixed methods studies and limited outcome measurements' validity or reliability weakened study quality. MS-focused IPE for pre-qualification HCPs is well received by students. Design of future activities could be enhanced by employing theory and ensuring matching of students' and groups' skills, professional identity and learner attributes to enhance learning in an interprofessional setting. Future delivery should embed MS-focused IPE into the standard curricula to optimize constructive alignment, learner engagement, quality and drive development. The required skillset in pre-qualification HCP programmes to facilitate future safe medication practice, together with the associated learning outcomes and assessment approaches, should be defined. The quality of scholarly studies examining these activities needs improvement.