Improving role identity by shadowing interprofessional team members in a clinical setting: an innovative clinical education course.

Incorporating Interprofessional Education (IPE) into the training of health care professionals has become an important component of nursing education. Students are expected to graduate with skills necessary for integrated care delivery to improve quality and safety. In an effort to formally expose nursing students to the roles and responsibilities of members of the health care team, a clinical course was developed within a school of nursing which included a significant interprofessional shadowing component. The course includes a total of 168 clinical hours. Shadowing makes up one third or approximately 56 of the total clinical hours. The students completed a critical reflection to evaluate the effectiveness of the shadowing experience and to determine if course objectives were met. The reflective activity allowed students to describe their observations, discuss new insights into the role of the discipline and express thoughts and feelings as they observe the daily work of the health care team. This qualitative study analyzed these critical reflections from a course in which students were enrolled between 2013 and 2015. Researchers selected a purposive sample of 50 reflections out of more than 200 submissions. Four major themes were identified: communication between health care providers necessary for achieving quality patient outcomes; new perspectives on role identity; learning from other professions; and increased confidence in collaborating with other members of the team. This new clinical education course, with an IPE shadowing component, improved insight and confidence in collaborating with members of the interprofessional team. The course provided students with the opportunity to strengthen role identity, observe communication between disciplines in the clinical setting, and acquire skills that will facilitate the new graduate's ability to work effectively with members of the health care team.