Patients’ experiences of being treated by an interprofessional student team compared with uniprofessional treatment by residents supported by nurses: a case study

TY - JOUR

T1 - Patients’ experiences of being treated by an interprofessional student team compared with uniprofessional treatment by residents supported by nurses

T2 - a case study

AU - Jakobsen, Flemming

AU - Glassou, Eva Natalia

AU - Kirkeby, Lone

AU - Hansen, Torben Bæk

PY - 2021/7

Y1 - 2021/7

N2 - Clinical experience, preferably interprofessional, is an important part of health professionals’ undergraduate training. In recent years, more and more patient treatment has been moving to outpatient clinics with research suggesting hat this shift is not compromising students’ learning outcomes. The purpose of this study was to explore orthopedic outpatients’ perceived experiences of being treated by an interprofessional student team consisting of one medical and one nursing student versus being treated by a resident doctor supported by nurses in a uniprofessional setup. We performed an exploratory single case study with two embedded units: 1) a quantitative part with a survey (n = 89) including seven questions and 2) a qualitative part with interviews (n = 46). In the questionnaire, three of the seven questions revealed a significant difference in favor of the student teams. However, the qualitative part of the study did not indicate any differences between the groups. In this study, patients’ experiences in an orthopedic outpatient clinic were not influenced by being treated by interprofessional student teams compared to normal patient pathway with registrars and nurses working uniprofessionally. This information is important in designing and implementing student curriculums with clinical training in outpatient clinics. Furthermore, the interprofessional student team can undertake unassisted consultations with selected patients with indirect supervision from the supervisors, making the clinical setting realistic for the students. However, in this teaching model, feedback to the students relies only on the students’ written patient records; even if patient satisfaction is high, structured observation of student performance may be necessary as a supplementary teaching tool. This may be incorporated in future studies of patient-student relations in clinical training in an outpatient setting.

AB - Clinical experience, preferably interprofessional, is an important part of health professionals’ undergraduate training. In recent years, more and more patient treatment has been moving to outpatient clinics with research suggesting hat this shift is not compromising students’ learning outcomes. The purpose of this study was to explore orthopedic outpatients’ perceived experiences of being treated by an interprofessional student team consisting of one medical and one nursing student versus being treated by a resident doctor supported by nurses in a uniprofessional setup. We performed an exploratory single case study with two embedded units: 1) a quantitative part with a survey (n = 89) including seven questions and 2) a qualitative part with interviews (n = 46). In the questionnaire, three of the seven questions revealed a significant difference in favor of the student teams. However, the qualitative part of the study did not indicate any differences between the groups. In this study, patients’ experiences in an orthopedic outpatient clinic were not influenced by being treated by interprofessional student teams compared to normal patient pathway with registrars and nurses working uniprofessionally. This information is important in designing and implementing student curriculums with clinical training in outpatient clinics. Furthermore, the interprofessional student team can undertake unassisted consultations with selected patients with indirect supervision from the supervisors, making the clinical setting realistic for the students. However, in this teaching model, feedback to the students relies only on the students’ written patient records; even if patient satisfaction is high, structured observation of student performance may be necessary as a supplementary teaching tool. This may be incorporated in future studies of patient-student relations in clinical training in an outpatient setting.

KW - Interprofessional

KW - outpatient clinic

KW - resident

KW - student

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85087055277&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/13561820.2020.1763276

DO - 10.1080/13561820.2020.1763276

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 32552172

AN - SCOPUS:85087055277

SN - 1356-1820

VL - 35

SP - 546

EP - 551

JO - Journal of Interprofessional Care

JF - Journal of Interprofessional Care

IS - 4

ER -