Narrative in interprofessional education and practice: implications for professional identity, provider–patient communication and teamwork

In a new paper published by Philip Clark in the Journal of Interprofessional Care, he argues that health and social care professionals are increasingly using narrative approaches to focus on the patient and to communicate with each other. Both effective interprofessional education (IPE) and practice (IPP) require recognizing the various values and voices of different professions, how they relate to the patient’s life story, and how they interact with each other at the level of the healthcare team. Clark's article analyzes and integrates the literature on narrative to explore: self-narrative as an expression of one’s professional identity; the co-creation of the patient’s narrative by the professional and the patient; and the interprofessional multi-vocal narrative discourse as co-constructed by members of the healthcare team. Using a narrative approach to thinking about professional identity, provider–patient communication, and interprofessional teamwork expands our thinking about both IPE and IPP by providing new insights into the nature of professional practice based on relationships to oneself, the patient, and others on the team. How professionals define themselves, gather and present information from the patient, and communicate as members of a clinical team all have important dimensions that can be revealed by a narrative approach. Implications and conclusions for the further development of the narrative approach in IPE and IPP are offered.

For further information see: http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/13561820.2013.853652

The social context of career choice among millennial nurses: implications for interprofessional practice

Health human resource and workforce planning is a global priority. Given the critical nursing shortage, and the fact that nurses are the largest group of healthcare providers, health workforce planning must focus on strategies to enhance both recruitment and retention of nurses. Understanding early socialization to career choice can provide insight into professional perceptions and expectations that have implications for recruitment, retention and interprofessional collaboration. 

 

In a newly published paper by Sheri Price and colleagues, these authors used Polkinghorne’s theory of narrative emplotment to understand the career choice experiences of 12 millennial nurses (born between 1980 and 2000) in Eastern Canada. 

 

Participants were interviewed twice, face-to-face, 4 to 6 weeks apart prior to commencing their nursing program. The narratives present career choice as a complex consideration of social positioning. The findings provide insight into how nursing is perceived to be positioned in relation to medicine and how the participants struggled to locate themselves within this social hierarchy. 

 

The authors state that the implications of this research highlight the need to ensure that recruitment messaging and organizational policies promote interprofessional collaboration from the onset of choosing a career in the health professions. Early professional socialization strategies during recruitment and education can enhance future collaboration between the health professions.

Read More at: http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/13561820.2013.816660

Intersections between interprofessional practice, cultural competency and primary healthcare

The concepts of interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP), cultural competency and primary healthcare (PHC) appear to be linked in theory and practice. A recently published JIC paper (Oelke et al 2013) provides arguments explicating the potential linkages between IPCP and cultural competency. The authors argue that cultural competency is an important component of IPCP both for relationships with patients and/or communities in which providers work and between team members. 

The authors note that organizational structures also play an important role in facilitating IPCP and cultural competency. The integration of both IPCP and cultural competency has the potential to enhance positive health outcomes. Furthermore, the authors argue IPCP and cultural competency have important implications for PHC service design, given interprofessional teams are a key component of PHC systems. Linking these concepts in providing PHC services can be essential for impacting outcomes at all levels of primary healthcare, including patient, provider and systems.

To read more about these issues go to: http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/13561820.2013.785502