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BACKGROUND:

Effective interprofessional teamwork is an essential component for the delivery of high-quality patient care in an increasingly complex medical environment. The objective is to evaluate whether the implementation of care pathways (CPs) improves teamwork in an acute hospital setting.

DESIGN AND MEASURES:

Despite increasing recognition for the importance of interprofessional education (IPE), little is known about where in the world it occurs, how it is conducted and why it is offered. This international environmental scan was commissioned by the World Health Organization (WHO) to answer these questions and inform efforts to support IPE on a global scale. An internet-based survey targeting educators and researchers in WHO's 193 Member States was conducted between February and April 2008.

PURPOSE:

Deciding about the limitation of life-sustaining treatment (LST) is a major challenge for intensive care medicine. The aim of the study was to investigate the practices and perspectives of German intensive care nurses and physicians on limiting LST.

METHODS:

We conducted an anonymous, self-administered questionnaire survey among the 268 nurses and 95 physicians on all 10 intensive care units of the Munich University Hospital, Germany.

RESULTS:

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).

MAIN MEASURES:

This study aims to evaluate the effect of the intensity of interprofessional collaboration on hospitalized cancer patients. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 312 patients to examine the effects of intensity of interprofessional collaboration (low vs high intensity collaboration) on patient satisfaction, uncertainty, pain management, and length of stay. Data on the intensity of interprofessional collaboration, patient satisfaction, and uncertainty were collected from professionals and patients using valid and reliable instruments.

OBJECTIVE:

To assess the effect of a Crew Resource Management (CRM) intervention specifically designed to improve teamwork and communication skills in a multidisciplinary obstetrical setting.

METHOD:

QUESTION UNDER STUDY/PRINCIPLES: Ambulatory care is a mandatory component of post-graduate training in general internal medicine. Academic outpatient clinics face challenges in training residents in terms of exposure to sufficient patient case-mix, diversity of clinical activities and continuity of care while fulfilling their mission to provide care to vulnerable populations. We report the development and evaluation of a new postgraduate curriculum in ambulatory care in Geneva, Switzerland, designed to overcome such challenges.

METHODS/DESCRIPTION:

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.

BACKGROUND:

In neonatal intensive care, a child's death is often preceded by a medical decision. Nurses, social workers and pastors, however, are often excluded from ethical case deliberation. If multiprofessional ethical case deliberations do take place, participants may not always know how to perform to the fullest.

SETTING:

A level-IIID neonatal intensive care unit of a paediatric teaching hospital in the Netherlands.

METHODS: