Case Studies of Interprofessional Education Initiatives From Five Countries

Background: Although teamwork and interprofessional collaboration arecritical to patient safety, nursing, medical, and allied health graduates oftenfeel ill-prepared to confidently communicate and collaborate with other teammembers. While interprofessional education (IPE) has been advocated as a wayof addressing this issue, there are multiple barriers to its systematic and sustained integration in undergraduate healthcare programs. Despite these challenges, examples of effective IPE initiatives have emerged.Innovation: This article profiles seven case studies of innovative interprofessional education activities that have been successfully implemented across five countries, for a variety of learners, using different delivery modalities, and with evaluation results attesting to their success.Conclusions: The case studies demonstrate innovative ideas that have thepotential to overcome some of the barriers to IPE through the use of creativeand targeted approaches. This article provides a wealth of ideas for the successful design and implementation of IPE initiatives and will be of benefit toeducators wishing to expand their repertoire of teaching approaches.Clinical Relevance: A body of research attests to the relationship betweeninterprofessional communication, teamwork, and patient outcomes. IPE is imperative for facilitating the development of nursing graduates’ communicationand teamwork skills; however, innovative approaches are needed to overcomethe perceived and actual impediments to its implementation. (Less)