Informal interprofessional learning: Visualizing the clinical workplace

Very interesting article on JIC early online: Informal interprofessional learning.


Written by: Judith Martine Wagter (Foreest Medical School, Medical Centre Alkmaar, 

Alkmaar

, The Netherlands), Gerhard van de Bunt (Faculty of Social Sciences, VU Amsterdam University, 

Amsterdam

, The Netherlands), Marina Honing (ICU/MCU, Medical Centre Alkmaar, 

Alkmaar

, The Netherlands), Marina Eckenhausen (Foreest Medical School, Medical Centre Alkmaar, 

Alkmaar

, The Netherlands), Albert Scherpbier (School of Health Professions Education, Maastricht University, 

Maastricht

, The Netherlands).

Daily collaboration of senior doctors, residents and nurses involves a major potential for sharing knowledge between professionals. Therefore, more attention needs to be paid to informal learning to create strategies and appropriate conditions for enhancing and effectuating informal learning in the workplace. The aim of this study is to visualize and describe patterns of informal interprofessional learning relations among staff in complex care. Questionnaires with four network questions – recognized as indicators of informal learning in the clinical workplace – were handed out to intensive and medium care unit (ICU/MCU) staff members (N = 108), of which 77% were completed and returned. Data were analyzed using social network analysis and Mokken scale analysis. Densities, tie strength and reciprocity of the four networks created show MCU and ICU nurses as subgroups within the ward and reveal central but relatively one-sided relations of senior doctors with nurses and residents. Based on the analyses, we formulated a scale of intensity of informal learning relations that can be used to understand and stimulate informal interprofessional learning.

For more information, please read the Journal of Interprofessional Care, early online (February 14 2012).

From the nurses' station to the health team hub: How can design promote interprofessional collaboration?

Great article on how can design promote interprofessional collaboration.
Written by: Lyn Frances Gum (School of Medicine, Flinders University Rural Clinical School, 

South Australia

, Australia), David Prideaux (School of Medicine, Flinders University, 

Adelaide

, Australia), Linda Sweet (School of Medicine, Flinders University Rural Clinical School, 

South Australia

, Australia), Jennene Greenhill (School of Medicine, Flinders University Rural Clinical School, 

South Australia

, Australia)

Interprofessional practice implies that health professionals are able to contribute patient care in a collaborative environment. In this paper, it is argued that in a hospital the nurses' station is a form of symbolic power. The term could be reframed as a “health team hub,” which fosters a place for communication and interprofessional working. Studies have found that design of the Nurses' Station can impact on the walking distance of hospital staff, privacy for patients and staff, jeopardize patient confidentiality and access to resources. However, no studies have explored the implications of nurses' station design on interprofessional practice. A multi-site collective case study of three rural hospitals in South Australia explored the collaborative working culture of each hospital. Of the cultural concepts being studied, the physical design of nurses' stations and the general physical environment were found to have a major influence on an effective collaborative practice. Communication barriers were related to poor design, lack of space, frequent interruptions and a lack of privacy; the name “nurses' station” denotes the space as the primary domain of nurses rather than a workspace for the healthcare team. Immersive work spaces could encourage all members of the healthcare team to communicate more readily with one another to promote interprofessional collaboration.


For more information, please read the Journal of Interprofessional Care January 2012, Vol. 26, No. 1 , Pages 21-27.