Fostering interprofessional communication through case discussions and simulated ward rounds in nursing and medical education: A pilot project

Background: Poor communication between physicians and nursing staff could result in inadequate interprofessional collaboration with negative effects on patient health. In order to ensure optimal health care for patients, it is important to strengthen interprofessional communication and collaboration between physicians and nurses during their education. Aim: The aim of this project is to foster communication for medical and nursing students through interprofessional case discussions and simulated ward rounds as a form of training. Method: In 2013-15 a total of 39 nursing students and 22 medical students participated in eight seminars, each covering case discussions and simulated ward rounds. The seminar was evaluated based on student assessment of the educational objectives. Results: Students who voluntarily signed up for the seminar profited from the interprofessional interaction and gathered positive experiences working in a team. Conclusion: Through practicing case discussions and ward rounds as a group, interprofessional communication could be fostered between medical and nursing students. Students took advantage of the opportunity to ask those from other profession questions and realized that interprofessional interaction can lead to improved health care

Medical ward round competence in internal medicine - an interview study towards an interprofessional development of an Entrustable Professional Activity (EPA)

Background: The medical ward round is a central but complex activity that is of relevance from the first day of work. However, difficulties for young doctors have been reported. Instruction of ward round competence in medical curricula is hampered by the lack of a standardized description of the procedure. This paper aims to identify and describe physicians' tasks and relevant competences for conducting a medical ward round on the first day of professional work. Methods: A review of recent literature revealed known important aspects of medical ward rounds. These were used for the development of a semi-structured interview schedule. Medical ward round experts working at different hospitals were interviewed. The sample consisted of 14 ward physicians (M = 8.82 years of work experience) and 12 nurses (M = 14.55 years of work experience) working in different specializations of internal medicine. All interviews were audiotaped, fully transcribed, and analyzed using an inductive-deductive coding scheme. Results: Nine fields of competences with 18 related sub-competences and 62 observable tasks were identified as relevant for conducting a medical ward round. Over 70 % of the experts named communication, collaborative clinical reasoning and organization as essential competences. Deeper analysis further unveiled the importance of self-management, management of difficult situations, error management and teamwork. Conclusion: The study is the first to picture ward round competences and related tasks in detail and to define an EPA "Conducting an internal medicine ward round" based on systematic interprofessional expert interviews. It thus provides a basis for integration of ward round competences in the medical curricula in an evidence based manner and gives a framework for the development of instructional intervention studies and comparative studies in other medical fields