Interprofessional collaboration during urgent clinical situations in internal medicine: a study of clinical reasoning and role perceptions among doctors and nurses

Effective collaboration between physicians and nurses contributes to quality and safety of patient care. Such collaboration rests upon different factors, among which shared understandings and perceptions of professional roles. This study seeks to bring an answer to the following research questions:

1. What are internal medicine residents’ and nurses’ perceptions and expectations of both their own and the other’s professional roles?
2. Can we identify characteristics and behaviours that contribute to teamwork quality in internal medicine?
3. What is the relationship between internal medicine residents’ and nurses’ role perceptions and their actions in practice?

Data were collected in two steps. First, individual semi-structured interviews that focused on role perceptions were conducted with 14 residents and 14 nurses working on the internal medicine ward of the University Hospitals of Geneva. A few weeks later, each resident was randomly paired with a nurse to manage two clinical cases in a simulated ward. Thematic content analysis enabled us to identify key components of professional roles as perceived by participants, and to better understand which components contributed to effective teamwork.

Results from this study were presented at several conferences and scientific meetings. Two journal articles and a medical student’s master thesis have reported on results from this study. Further articles are currently under review.

Muller-Juge V, Cullati S, Blondon KS, Hudelson Perneger PM, Maître F, Vu NV, Savoldelli GL, Nendaz MR. Interprofessional Collaboration on an Internal Medicine Ward: Role Perceptions and Expectations among Nurses and Residents. PLOS ONE 2013; 8(2):e57570.

Muller-Juge V, Cullati S, Blondon KS, Hudelson P, Maître F, Vu NV, Savoldelli GL, Nendaz MR. Interprofessional collaboration between residents and nurses in general internal medicine: a qualitative study on behaviours enhancing teamwork quality. PLOS ONE 2014; 9(4):e96160

Cottin G. Collaboration médico-infirmière dans la prise en charge de patients de médecine interne : de la perception des rôles à leur mise en pratique. Master’s Thesis, supervised by Nendaz MR. May 2015, Geneva: University of Geneva.