Interdisciplinary educational approaches in healthcare organizations

Mohammed Al Tous, Ahmad Alkhaibary, Hussein Alabssi, Ahmad Haimour, Amal Alqarni, Maissa Alqaryouti. Interdisciplinary educational approaches in Healthcare Organizations. Cardiometry; Issue 22; May 2022; p. 154-159; DOI: 10.18137/cardiometry.2022.22.154159; Available from: interdisciplinary-educational-approaches

Interdisciplinary Education has high attention overall the world over the last decade as health services and patient safety incidences significantly decreased by better collaboration between health professionals1. Healthcare institutions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) are facing an increase in patients’ complaints from a variety of healthcare-associated problems, and their variant cultural backgrounds. Collaboration among the different healthcare professionals is considered a crucial factor for managing these complex care situations. Interdisciplinary Education focuses on patient-centered care, which is an essential aspect of healthcare education2. Interdisciplinary Education has been defined as a safe learning environment in which trainees from two or more healthcare disciplines learn with, from, and about the role of each other, participate as an associate of an interdisciplinary healthcare team, and demonstrate positive attitudes toward the patient, family, and colleagues which enhancing teamwork skills and endorse the quality of care. Interdisciplinary Education inspires mutual respect and thoughtfulness among associates on healthcare teams3

Dysfunctional team dynamics are attributed to more than 70% of medical errors. It was suggested recently that in comparison to non-medical teams, the healthcare teams are quite complex and that more sophisticated knowledge of team processes and dynamics is required4

Maintaining safety and the safety culture are health service priorities that overwhelm institutions’ budgets. Research suggests Interdisciplinary Education and healthier team dynamics can enhance clinical outcomes, performance, safety, and team culture.5

Recently, it has been reinforced by numerous studies that the efficiency of Interdisciplinary Education is one of the elements of the education process. However, most of the studies were conducted in academic settings. It pointed out a brief understanding of better communication and interdisciplinary team roles, which enhances the teamwork between members of the team. One reading showed higher satisfaction of patients with the care in the case by a multidisciplinary team who was exposed to Interdisciplinary Education. Another study presented the importance of Interdisciplinary Education in refining professional development as well as self as increasing understanding about interdisciplinary.6

In the framework of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), studies that were conducted in academic settings including IPE found that the prospectus would advance patient care and proliferate the satisfaction of the healthcare provider. Moreover, they found that the awareness of and willingness toward Interdisciplinary Education among undergraduate healthcare students were high7.

Problem Statement

Previous research studies based on patient safety have identified widely that some of the critical elements in providing safe patient care are performance and communication of the healthcare team8. The safety and quality of patient care appear to be influenced by team dynamics and poor coordination among healthcare professionals9.The lack of Interdisciplinary Education in healthcare institutions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) negatively impacts of dynamics of the healthcare team. Emphasis on the training of future health professionals to work within teams effectively has been increased by these findings.

Healthcare professionals’ perception toward Interdisciplinary Education is an essential factor that affects their acceptance of this education approach10. This study will be carried out to evaluate the willingness and the perception of healthcare professionals in King Saud Medical City (KSMC) for Interdisciplinary Education. The outcomes of this study can provide significant support to decision-makers and educators in initiating Interdisciplinary Education programs.

Study Aims

• Identify and recognize the perception of healthcare professionals of Interdisciplinary Education at KSMC.

• Assess the difference in perception of Interdisciplinary Education among physicians, nurses, and other allied healthcare in KSMC.

• •    Differentiate between physicians, nurses, and other allied healthcare professionals’ perception of Interdisciplinary Education in specialized units and general wards.

Research Questions

• •    What is the perception of Interdisciplinary Education among physicians, nurses, and other allied healthcare professionals in KSMC?

• •    What is the difference in perception of Interdisciplinary Education among physicians, nurses, and other allied healthcare in KSMC?

• •    What is the difference in physicians, nurses, and other allied healthcare professionals’ perception of Interdisciplinary Education in specialized units and general wards?

Materials and Methods

Design

A cross-sectional study design was used to the selected convenience sample, which was selected equally among the different healthcare professionals (physicians, nurses, and other allied healthcare professionals) at KSMC.

Setting

This study was conducted at King Saud Medical City (KSMC) with variant healthcare professionals (physicians, nurses, and other allied healthcare professionals) from specialized and general areas.

Sampling

The total healthcare population in KSMC is 7969 employees based on data from the Human Resources Department at KSMC. With a margin of error of 5%, confidence level 95%, and 50% response distribution, the suggested sample size for our study was 367, and 354 questionnaires were returned giving a response rate of 96.5%. A proportionate sample will be taken from the three main study groups (Physicians= 63, Nurses= 211, and Allied Health= 93).

Data Collection

Data was collected by using a self-administered survey called the Interdisciplinary Education Perception Scale, which consist of 18 items classified under 4 sub-scales (competency/autonomy, insight of definite collaboration, considerate of others’ standards, and perceived need for cooperation) and uses a Likert

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Scale with reactions extending from “strongly disagree” (1) to “strongly agree” (6).

Data Analysis

Data were entered into SPSS, version 23 (IBM Corporation, Armonk, NY, USA). Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics by using frequency distribution. The inferential statistic was done by using the nonparametric tests after verifying the data by one-sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. The Sign test was utilized to test the healthcare workers’ perception. We compared the differences between two independent groups by using the Mann-Whitney test. On other hand, we used the Kurskal Wallis to test the differences in the perception among different specialties.

Ethical Considerations

Approval from IRB at King Saud Medical City (KSMC) will be obtained before we start the study. There will be different strategies that will help in protecting the confidentiality and rights of participants. Participants will be updated about the objective of the study and that their participation is completely voluntary. The right to refuse to the participant will be provided to each participant. Moreover, the right to refuse to answer any question will be informed to participants. The participants will also be informed about their right to end their participation at any time.

All responses will be accessed and maintained by the principal investigator only and no personal information such as job number or name will be used.

Results and Discussion

Table 1 presents the demographic characteristics of the respondents. A large majority (77.4%) of the sample were female. The age of the respondents’ spans from 30 to 39 years, present the highest percentage (59%). As reflected on the table, most (66.7%) of the respondents were nurses working in special units (61%). 65.3% of the respondents were bachelor’s holders. 57.3% of the sample have more than 5 years of experience.

Table 1

Demographic data of respondents

Variables		Frequency	Percent
Gender	Male	80	22.6
	Female	274	77.4
Age	20-29years	141	39.8
	30-39years	209	59
	More than 40	4	1.1
Specialty	Medicine	66	18.6
	Nursing	236	66.7
	Allied Health	52	14.7
Clinical	General ward	138	39
setting	Special unit	216	61
Education	Diploma	73	20.6
	Bachelors	231	65.3
	Masters	20	5.6
	Ph.D./medical board	30	8.5
Years	Less than 2years	11	3.1
of experi-	2-5years	140	39.6
ence	More than 5years	203	57.3

Table 2

Respondents’ perception toward IPE

The current study intended to categorize and recognize the insight and readiness of healthcare professionals at KSMC towards an IPE; focusing on the differences among specialties and their clinical settings. Results demonstrated that the majority of the respondents showed a high perception level toward IPE. Therefore, female nurses who have been working in special units and have experience more than 5 years perceived more than other specialties. Also, health workers in special units showed a higher percentage than the general wards, and females were ready more than males. Only one item helped to determine the differences in perception among specialties, which is

Table 3

Differences in the perception between the deferent specialties

KRUSKAL WALLIS TEST
			Chi-Square	df	Asymp. Sig.
Competency/Autonomy			.501	2	.779
Perception of Actual Cooperation			1.904	2	.386
Understanding of Others’ Values			2.015	2	.365
Perceived Need for Cooperation			8.532	2	.014
Pairwise Comparison
Sample 1- Sample 2	Test Statistic	Std. Error	Std. Test Statistic	Sig.	Adj.Sig.
Medicine-allied health	-4.390	18.709	-.235	.814	1.000
Medicine-nursing	-35.055	14.049	-2.495	.013	.038
Allied health-nursing	30.665	15.457	1.984	.047	.142

Table 4

Differences in perception between the deferent clinical settings

Mann Whitney Test
	Clinical Setting	Mean Rank	Mann Whitney U	Z	Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed)
Competency/ Autonomy	General ward Special unit	153.67 191.80	11600.00	-3.427	.001
Perception of Actual Cooperation	General ward Special unit	154.41 191.33	11701.00	-3.328	.001
Understanding of Others’ Values	General ward Special unit	166.12 183.90	13305.50	-1.600	,110
Perceived Need for Cooperation	General ward Special unit	150.24 193.97	11129.50	-3.980	.000

Table 5

Differences in perception between males and females

	Competency Autonomy	Perceived Need for Cooperation	Perception of Actual Cooperation	Understanding of Others’ Values
Mann-Whitney U	10052.000	9751.500	9369.500	10691.500
Wilcoxon W	13292.000	12991.500	12609.500	13931.500
Z	-1.130	-1.522	-1.985	-.334
Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed)	.259	.128	.047	.738

the “perceived need for cooperation”. In KSMC, the behavior of physicians was not surprising, as they always commit to work and receive education from each other and with physician assistance rather than nurses or any other health care professional as allied health care. Therefore, Nurses usually play an important role in collaborating with other specialties which makes a high level of perception but not strange.

When comparing the results of the different clinical settings, it must be kept in mind that the special unit had their professional collaboration culture mostly better than other units. One of the most important findings is that the participants showed the need for actual interprofessional collaboration (IPC) in the absence of structured IPE programs. Literature indicates that most health care professionals acknowledge that IPC is important and required but they may differ in their satisfaction and how to implement it in practice (11).

Conclusions

Currently, establishing IPE programs in KSMC is still rare. Initially, it may be possible to create an IPE by deliberately encourage an environment of IPC among health professions. IPC should be initiated from universities than from health organizations starting at the level of leaders of medicine, nursing, and other disciplines who should be aware of the importance of IPC that would benefit patients as well as health institutions. Leaders must take IPC cooperation seriously by putting it into consideration in the vision of departments and thus starting to establish small cooperated teams which include various specialties (11). Expanding the scope of this type of cooperation will lead to the necessity to look into a combination of educational concepts to work with a disciplined approach. Therefore, the education of medical, nursing and other allied health must define the educational needs of these teams and thus create appropriate IPE programs base on those needs. Three gaps to be filled: There may be a difference between the acceptance of the young generation and the old ones to work according to a new concept. So, generations must be considered into account in studying the attitude of health professionals toward IPE. Studying the awareness and readiness of the health institutions’ leaders to motivate the IPC is crucial. A focus on understanding the advantages of the nursing profession’s cooperation with physicians on the quality of decision-making is also needed. Lastly, the notified limitation was with physiotherapists, pharmacists when compared with other allied healthcare professionals such as dietitians, dentists, occupational therapists, respiratory therapists, etc.

Author’s Contributions

The corresponding author of this study is Muhammed Al Tous. Other authors of the study are Ahmad Alkhaibary, Hussein Alabssi, Ahmad Haimour, Amal Alqarni, and Maisa Alqaryouti. All authors have made substantial contributions to the final approval of the version to be submitted, drafting the article or revising it crucially for important intellectual content, and the design and conception of the study or interpretation and analysis of data, and acquisition of data.

Acknowledgments