The impact of interprofessional education on students' current and desired competence in diabetes care

Abstract

Aim To explore the impact of interprofessional education (IPE) on undergraduate nursing and medical students' knowledge, competence and targeted competence in diabetes care. Design Mixed methods design. Methods A voluntary IPE course of diabetes management was organized for nursing (n = 15) and medical (n = 15) students, who performed a diabetes knowledge test and self‐evaluation of diabetes competence before and after the course and were compared with non‐participating students. The participating students' focus‐group interviews were analysed using inductive content analysis. Results The IPE course improved nursing students' diabetes knowledge and self‐evaluated competence among nursing and medical students. The baseline differences in self‐evaluated competence between the groups disappeared. The non‐participating students evaluated their competence higher than the participants, though they scored lower or equally in the knowledge test. In conclusion, IPE showed potential in increasing students' self‐evaluated competence, motivation to learn more and nursing students' diabetes knowledge, offering better prospects for future interprofessional diabetes management.