Interprofessional education: merging nursing, midwifery and CAM.

AIM

To ascertain the value of bringing together undergraduate students from nursing, midwifery, and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) to determine what they could learn from each other.

BACKGROUND

Interprofessional education (IPE) is a growing field promoting interaction between professional groups, collaborative working and quality of health. In conventional health, IPE has a role to play in undergraduate education. No studies have been undertaken to investigate the integration of CAM students and conventional undergraduate healthcare students.

METHOD

In a mixed-method study, in 2010, a sample of third-year students enrolled on adult nursing, midwifery, homeopathy and complementary therapies degree courses took part in two workshops and a focus-group discussion.

FINDINGS

Six themes were identified from qualitative data analysis: interaction; breaking down prejudices; knowledge of self; knowledge of others; common aims; and organisational limitations.

CONCLUSION

The common aim of patient-centred care allowed students to recognise the benefits of a more integrated health system.