Interprofessional health-care ethics education for medical and nursing students in Germany: an interprofessional education and practice guide

ABSTRACT

Early interprofessional learning among nursing and medical students provides various benefits for future collaboration among professionals, and high-quality care for patients. Expert committees, thus, urge the integration of interprofessional education (IPE) in undergraduate studies to achieve significant sustainable improvements in health-care practice. In Germany, IPE interventions are already implemented in some health-care disciplines, but Health-care Ethics are scarcely regarded in undergraduate education. There are, however, several reasons why Health-care Ethics is particularly appropriate for teaching in an interprofessional format. Thus, after reviewing the legal framework and the current curricula of both professions, an IPE course on Health-care Ethics for medical and nursing students was developed and implemented, consisting of seven classes of 180 minutes each. Drawing on the evaluation results after two rounds of the course, this interprofessional education and practice guide reports on challenges, obstacles and perspectives for improvement of an IPE course on Health-care Ethics. It aims to provide guidance for teaching pioneers and innovators who implement similar projects and to foster practice-oriented and open discussion about the possibilities and limits of IPE in Health-care Ethics.

KEYWORDS:

• Interprofessional education
• health-care ethics
• interprofessional ethics
• nursing
• collaboration
• health-care professionals

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.

Notes

1. At the time, the course had been developed and implemented, the Nursing Act from 16 July 2003 was valid. In 2020, a new nursing Act – the so-called Pflegeberufereformgesetz from 17 July 2017 – came into power accompanied by new training and examination regulations for the nursing professions (Ausbildungs- und Prüfungsverordnung für die Pflegeberufe from 2 October 2018).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research under Grant No. [withheld for anonymous peer-review].

Notes on contributors

Anna-Henrikje Seidlein

Anna-Henrikje Seidlein is a research fellow at the Institute of Ethics and History of Medicine at University Medicine Greifswald (Germany), where she is currently finishing her doctoral studies. She has a background in intensive care nursing, nursing science and clinical ethics consultation. Her main research focus is on socio-empirical research regarding ethical questions associated with health care practices.

Arne Hannich

Arne Hannich has a background in nursing and health sciences. Currently, he is working on his doctoral thesis about the health situation of medical students in different EU-countries. In this context, he is a collaborator at the Institute of Medical Psychology at the University Medicine Greifswald (Germany).

Andre Nowak

Andre Nowak is a research fellow at the Institute for History and Ethics of Medicine at Medical Faculty of Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (Germany). He has a background in politics, philosophy and medical ethics. His work also focuses on clinical ethics consultation and Advance Care Planning at the end of life.

Sabine Salloch

Sabine Salloch is a professor and head of the Institut of Ethics, History and Philosophy of Medicine at Hannover Medical School (Germany). She has a background in medicine and philosophy and specialises in bioethical theory, empirical-ethical research and medical professionalism.