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The quality of teamwork among health care professionals is known to affect patient outcomes. In the OR, surgeons report more favorable perceptions of communication during procedures and of teamwork effectiveness than do nurses. We undertook a quality improvement project in the Veterans Health Administration to confirm reported teamwork differences between perioperative nurses and surgeons and to examine the implications of these differences for improving practice patterns in the OR.

BACKGROUND: Changing teamwork climate in healthcare through a collective shift in attitudes and values may be a necessary precursor to establishing a positive teamwork culture, where innovations can be more readily embedded and sustained. A complex educational intervention was initiated across an entire UK Trust's surgical provision, and then sustained. Attitudes towards teamwork were measured longitudinally to examine if the intervention produced sustainable results.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study, conducted in 3 intensive care units (ICUs) at 1 Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, was to develop tools and procedures to measure nurse/physician communication in future studies.

BACKGROUND: Evidence that medical error is a systemic problem requiring systemic solutions continues to expand. Developing a "safety culture" is one potential strategy toward improving patient safety. A reliable and valid self-report measure of safety culture is needed that is both grounded in concrete behaviors and is positively related to patient safety.

In order to improve efficiency and collaboration in healthcare service provision, it is recommended that students engage in interprofessional education; that is, learning with, from and about professions other than one's own profession. Such endeavors are often impeded by pre-existing attitudes; therefore, self-reporting scales such as the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) have often been used in studies to gauge perspectives. The original 19-item version of the RIPLS was completed by 418 undergraduate healthcare students from a large Australian University.

OBJECTIVES: To explore final-year physiotherapy students' perceptions and experiences of interprofessional learning in the university and placement setting.

STUDY DESIGN: Focus group and mixed qualitative and quantitative questionnaire.

SETTING: Coventry University.

PARTICIPANTS: Third-year physiotherapy students at Coventry University.

METHODS: The final-year physiotherapy cohort was invited to complete a questionnaire containing a mix of closed- and open-ended questions. Eight volunteers from the same cohort took part in a focus group.

BACKGROUND: A four-year action research study was conducted across the Australian Capital Territory health system to strengthen interprofessional collaboration (IPC) though multiple intervention activities.

OBJECTIVES: Although shared learning activities are gradually being introduced to health care undergraduates, it has not been possible to measure the effects of educational interventions on students' attitudes. The main objective of this study was to develop a rating scale using items based on the desired outcomes of shared learning, to assess the 'readiness' of health care students for shared learning activities.

DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: A questionnaire study of 120 undergraduate students in 8 health care professions.

OBJECTIVES: The authors conducted a randomised controlled trial of four pedagogical methods commonly used to deliver teamwork training and measured the effects of each method on the acquisition of student teamwork knowledge, skills, and attitudes.

OBJECTIVE: To compare multi- and interdisciplinary team approaches concerning team process (teamwork) and team effectiveness (team performance and staff satisfaction) in German medical rehabilitation clinics.

DESIGN: A cross-sectional study with a descriptive-explorative design.

SETTING: Eighteen medical rehabilitation clinics divided into two groups (somatic and psychosomatic indication fields).

SUBJECTS: The 18 head physicians or psychotherapists in the clinics and their complete rehabilitation teams (n = 824).