What participants learn, with, from and about each other during inter-professional education encounters: A qualitative analysis

Abstract Background Safe healthcare requires teamwork and collaboration. To meet the needs of healthcare organizations and professionals, inter-professional education, is no longer an optional educational trend but rather a mandate of accrediting health education agencies. Objective In an effort to better understand the impact of inter- professional educational activities, this study sought to explore via qualitative methods what nursing and medical students learn with, from, and about one another during a week - long simulation-based inter-profession education course. Design A convenience sample of post-course survey responses from students participating in a week-long, inter-professional, simulation-based patient safety course was used to longitudinally explore what participants learn with, from, and about each other. Settings The setting for this study was a research university located in the southeast United States. Participants The participants included a total of 272 s semester accelerated option Bachelor of Nursing students and 599 medical students entering the 3rd year of their program that participated in an annual patient safety course. The study analyzed responses of students to questions in a post-course survey regarding educational outcomes while learning with students from a different profession. Results In the responses from 871 students collected over four years, the following key themes emerged. Students: 1) articulated learning the importance of contributions of other professions to the healthcare team, 2) expressed an appreciation for areas where their colleagues' training was superior to their own; and 3) identified deficiencies in their own knowledge and skill sets. Conclusion The findings of this study provide a basis for developing more specific curricular content as part of inter-professional education endeavors to strengthen constructive views of healthcare professions, foster a more collaborative shared mental model, and to correct perceived misconceptions.