Interprofessional nutrition management – implementation and evaluation of a course for medical and nursing students using research-based learning method

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the teaching project “Interprofessional Nutrition Management in Inpatient and Home Care” of the Medical Faculty of the Heinrich Heine University (HHU) and the Fliedner University of Applied Sciences Düsseldorf (FFH) was to test an interprofessional training session on the topic of malnutrition using the method of research-based learning to evaluate feasibility.Method: In the teaching project for medical and nursing students, research-based learning was applied in a case-based cross-sector setting. The teaching project was assessed quantitatively by the participating students through questionnaires and four newly-developed scales. The modeling and reliability of the scales (from 1 to 5) was confirmed by an exploratory factor analysis and Cronbach’s alpha. The scales were evaluated descriptively and through inferential statistics.Results: The medical (n=21) and nursing students (n=25) rated the teaching project positively. Across all professional groups, the social context between the students (M=4.6) and the relevance of the topic (M=4.47) were rated very highly. The use of research-based learning (M=3.9) and the final assessment of the training session (M=3.9) were rated as satisfactory.Conclusions: The method of research-based learning proved to be very suitable for interprofessional education, as it enabled situations which encouraged the health professionals to learn from one another, about one another and with one another. Through the interdisciplinary discussion of malnutrition, cooperation skills and initial competences in nutritional management can be cultivated in future doctors and nursing staff even during training.

Keywords

• interprofessional education
• research-based learning
• malnutrition
• evaluation