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The current status of interprofessional education (IPE) in Australian and New Zealand universities is largely unexamined despite its generally acknowledged benefit. Data are also limited about the use of IPE in teaching medication safety to nursing, pharmacy and medical students. For this reason a web-based cross-sectional survey was used to gather information from Australian and New Zealand universities offering nursing, pharmacy or medical programs. Responses were received from 31 of the 43 (72%) target universities.

Internationally, there are a number of universities at which medical and dental education programmes share common elements. There are no studies about the experiences of medical and dental students enrolled in different programmes who share significant amounts of learning and teaching.

METHODS:

Clinical practice provides the stimulus for students and practitioners alike to recognise best practice and, if necessary, enhance and modify existing practice. Increasingly, literature related to health service delivery and health workforce planning focuses on the need for collaborative interprofessional work practices.

This study aims to contribute to the limited set of interactional studies of health occupational relations. A "negotiated order" perspective was applied to a multi-site setting to articulate the ways in which clinicians' roles, accountabilities and contributions to patient care are shaped by the care setting and are influenced by the management of patient pathways.

Nurses represent the largest occupational group of health care professionals in Australia. The ratio of nurses to population is relatively consistent, unlike other health care professional groups (including medical doctors and allied health staff) whose numbers decline as population density and distance from metropolitan areas increases. Nurses working in areas where other health care professionals are limited or absent have expanded scopes of practice with their work being more generalist than specialist.

BACKGROUND:

OBJECTIVES:

Little is known about the implementation of integrative medicine (IM) in Australian health care and the nature of interprofessional collaborations that have been established in IM. The aim of this research was to examine the relationships among general medical practitioners (GPs) and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practitioners and their respective roles in co-located integrative practices.

DESIGN:

This article is a short report that describes an initiative in interprofessional education (IPE) and collaboration in health practices in a community health organisation. Staff and students from nursing and allied health professions collaborate to implement a video feedback parenting programme. The results include an increased awareness of the benefits of both IPE and infant mental health principles, in particular the establishment of a common language across professions. Further systematic evaluations are required.

OBJECTIVE:

A substantial literature engaging with the directions and experiences of stakeholders involved in interprofessional health education exists at the international level, yet almost nothing has been published that documents and analyses the Australian experience. Accordingly, this study aimed to scope the experiences of key stakeholders in health and higher education in relation to the development of interprofessional practice capabilities in health graduates in Australia.

METHODS:

Ongoing care for chronic conditions is best provided by interprofessional teams. There are challenges in achieving this where teams cross organisational boundaries. This article explores the influence of organisational factors on collaboration between private and public sector primary and community health services involved in diabetes care. It involved a case study using qualitative methods. Forty-five participants from 20 organisations were purposively recruited. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and from content analysis of documents.