Body. Grade. Relation. Understanding children’s needs through interprofessional learning

ABSTRACT

The aim of the study was to explore interprofessional learning among students from nursing, education, and social work programmes in Sweden. Four or five students from each programme participated in focus group interviews. Students were asked in homogenous and mixed groups to judge a fictitious case of a young schoolboy with multiple needs. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analysed with content analysis. We found that nursing students focused on nutrition and physical well-being, education students on grades and course, and social work students on context, collaboration, and coordinating activities. Students in the mixed groups described the concept of interprofessional learning as opening their eyes to the need for later collaboration as professionals. To conclude, the study shows that students adopt a narrow professional way of thinking when socialized only within their own discipline as illustrated by the theme: Body, Grade, Relation, with a risk of not taking full responsibility in a complex case such as a child in need. When exposed to other professions, students expand their perspectives and learn from each other to the benefit of their mutual clients.

KEYWORDS:

• Interprofessional learning
• collaboration
• nursing
• education
• social work

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Bo Söderqvist for facilitating interviews and for providing the basis of the constructed case study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.