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ABSTRACT
This study assessed attitudes of undergraduate healthcare students in Nigeria toward interprofessional practice. A cross-sectional survey of a convenience sample of 489 dental, medical, medical laboratory science, nursing, physiotherapy, and radiography students from a public university was conducted. The 14-item Attitudes Toward Healthcare Teamwork Scale was used to assess the students’ attitudes. Data were summarized using descriptive statistics while differences in attitudes based on students’ age, gender, year of study, and course of study were identified using inferential statistics. The findings showed that there were more (n= 281; 57.5%) male respondents and mean age was 25 years. Mean attitude score was 53.75 (±7.41) out of 70 depicting an overall positive attitude. Year and course of study resulted in statistically significant (p< .001) differences in attitudes with students in the sixth year of study, and medical students having more positive attitudes than their colleagues in junior years and other courses respectively. Most students agreed that interprofessional practice facilitates optimal patient care but also agreed with statements that portray interprofessional practice as unnecessarily time consuming. Integration of interprofessional education into existing undergraduate healthcare professions curricula in Nigeria could help address misconceptions and reinforce positive attitudes toward interprofessional practice.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Grace Vincent-Onabajo
Dr. Grace Vincent-Onabajo is a physiotherapist and she holds a PhD in Neurophysiotherapy from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. She was an Associate Professor at the Department of Medical Rehabilitation (Physiotherapy), University of Maiduguri at the time of the study. Her research interests include stroke and the ICF, stroke and rehabilitation in women of child-bearing age, and physiotherapy education and training in Nigeria, and she has 43 publications.
Sani Audu Mustapha
Mr. Sani Audu Mustapha is a final year physiotherapy student at the University of Maiduguri. His research experience includes his undergraduate dissertation research project.
Fatima Kachalla Gujba
Mrs. Fatima Kachalla Gujba is a Lecturer at the Department of Medical Rehabilitation (Physiotherapy), University of Maiduguri, Nigeria. She holds a Master of Science in advancing physiotherapy practice from Coventry University, United Kingdom and is commencing a PhD at the University of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa. Her research interests include physiotherapy management of orthopedic and neurological conditions, and physiotherapy training and education, and she has a number of publications.