Abstract
Aim: To explore the perspectives of nursing and pharmacy students on the learnings from clinical interprofessional education and to discuss the feasibility of university-collaborated education using existing field practice structure.
Method: A qualitative approach was adopted. Semi-structured interviews of three nursing and three pharmacy students, who participated in a clinical interprofessional education program, were conducted from July to December 2017. Analysis was performed using coding, constant comparison, and by observing the emerging categories.
Result: Four categories emerged, including: “empathetic understanding of anxiety,” ”revaluing the meaningfulness of own practice for the patient,” “understanding the professions of both others and oneself,” “incorporating other professional art.” These learnings were related to the characteristics of the clinical interprofessional education such as the differences in their professions, first contact with unfamiliar co-medical students, differences in their experiences in clinical settings, and focus on solving problems of real patients.
Conclusion: The learning perceived by the students suggested that introducing university-collaborated clinical interprofessional education into standard field practice could contribute to quality care as well as interprofessional collaboration.
