Social and healthcare students' competence in patient-oriented care enhanced during interprofessional practice: A scoping review.

AIM

This scoping review aimed to synthesise the findings of previous literature related to social and healthcare students' competence in patient-oriented care in interprofessional practice by attending multidisciplinary student teams.

BACKGROUND

Learning about patient-oriented care requires the comprehensive consideration of patients' physical, emotional, social and economic aspects to offer the best need-based care. Multidisciplinary student teams in the clinical practice may support learning patient-oriented care; however, the current knowledge is fragmented.

DESIGN

Scoping review METHODS: Data (N = 1548) were gathered from four databases, PubMed, MEDLINE, SocIndex and CINAHL, without start-date limitation until the end of December 2022. One article was found on the publisher's webpage recommendations. The selected studies (N = 15) answered the research questions and met the inclusion criteria. Quality assessment of the studies was conducted using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Quality Assessment Checklist. A thematic analysis process was used for data extraction and synthesis of results.

RESULTS

Perspectives on patient-oriented care competencies were analysed for both students and patients cared for by a multidisciplinary student team. The themes described students' profound understanding of professional roles and responsibilities in patient-oriented care, collaborative patient-oriented care skills, improved interprofessional communication and reported patient experiences.

CONCLUSIONS

Interprofessional practice versatility develops students' competence in patient-oriented care. Guaranteeing patient-oriented care requires a broad understanding of patients' comprehensive care needs, which can be addressed through multidisciplinary collaboration. Patients' experiences toward interprofessional student practice are mainly positive. Further research is needed to assess the impact of different interprofessional education methods on students' patient-oriented care competence using valid instruments and the long-term effects of students' competence in patient-oriented care.