Interprofessional Patient Safety Education: Assessing Students' Interprofessional Collaboration, Attitudes Towards...

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of an interprofessional patient safety training programme on students' attitudes and interprofessional collaboration.

A quasi-experimental study with a nonequivalent control group was conducted at Shahid Rahnemoon Hospital, affiliated with Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences. Seventy students participated in the 2023-2024 internship courses, with 35 students in each group. Participants were assigned to two groups using cluster randomization based on their internal medicine rotation schedule. The intervention group received interprofessional education, while the control group received uniprofessional training. The intervention group engaged in case-based learning within mixed medical and nursing teams; the control group completed the same activities in separate uniprofessional groups. Two self-report questionnaires assessed attitudes towards patient safety and professionalism, as well as performance in interprofessional collaboration. Assessments occurred before the intervention, 1 month after, and 3 months after. Data analysis included descriptive and inferential statistics, specifically independent t tests, repeated measures ANOVA, and χ² tests, all conducted at a 95% confidence interval using SPSS version 26.

The study revealed a significant difference in both attitude (F = 19.4, p < 0.0001, η² = 0.28) and performance (F = 4.53, p = 0.013, η² = 0.060) across the three assessments.

The findings demonstrate that interprofessional training improved students' attitudes and produced a moderate effect on performance. Sustained performance improvement may require longitudinal training. Future research should account for cultural factors and the structure of educational and healthcare systems.