Medical students' attitudes toward collaboration between doctors and nurses – a comparison between two Swedish universities

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate differences in attitudes towards collaboration between doctors and nurses among medical students in two medical schools: Gothenburg University (GU), which did not offer interprofessional education, and Linköping University (LiU), with a curriculum containing an interprofessional education programme; between male and female students; and between those with previous working experience in medical care and those without. A questionnaire, the Jefferson Scale of Attitudes toward Physician-Nurse Collaboration, was distributed to 314 first year and final year students at GU and LiU: 261 (82%) answers were received. There was no significant difference in attitudes toward collaboration, between first students at GU and LiU, between final year students at the two universities; and between those who had or did not have earlier experience of working in health care. There was a significant difference between male and female students (p = 0.0017) implying a more positive attitude among female students. Females were in majority among final year students (females 80 and males 46) final year, yet, students at both universities did not show a more positive attitude towards collaboration, than did first year students. It was concluded that students who had an interprofessional thread within their medical curriculum did not show different attitudes towards collaboration. The impact of the interprofessional teaching and training programme is discussed and further, especially longitudinal, studies are advocated.

Keywords:

• Professional role
• cooperative behaviour
• team-work
• medical student
• university

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the medical student respondents at GU and LiU for their willingness to participate. We also want to thank Tobias Arvemo, Department of Economics and Informatics, Health and Culture/University West, Trollhättan, who helped us with the statistics. The project was supported by grants from the research and development council in Fyrbodal and from the Swedish Social Insurance Administration.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.