Exploring interprofessional identity development in healthcare graduates and its impact on practice

Abstract

Interprofessional identity development is an emerging area of research. Whilst there is a growing body of studies exploring interprofessional identity development and interprofessional education, little is known about interprofessional identity development in healthcare professionals and the impact of interprofessional identity on practice. This study explored interprofessional identity development in graduates during their first year of work as health professionals and the influence of this on practice. All graduates had prior interprofessional education as students. Fourteen interviews with eight graduates were conducted. Data was analysed cross-sectionally using inductive thematic analysis. Three inter-related themes were developed: ‘growing confidence,’ ‘commitment to client-centred care,’ and ‘maintaining dual identification in different contexts.’ These themes demonstrated that, first, interprofessional identity development occurred along a continuum influenced by the practice context and the individual’s commitment to client-centred care. Second, confidence identifying and practising as a healthcare professional facilitates further interprofessional identity development. Third, maintaining identification as an interprofessional practitioner involves developing an increasingly sophisticated understanding of interprofessional practice by viewing interprofessional identity through increasingly complex meaning-making lenses consistent with the constructive developmental theory of self. Findings support the inclusion of pre-licensure interprofessional education and inform further interprofessional identity research in professionals beyond their first year of practice.

Interprofessional Identity Development: Awareness as the Beginning of Change

“…A well-documented event is the academic-practice gap that graduates may struggle with when they have been insu ciently prepared for collaborative practice [36,37]. Students and early career professionals are known to be especially susceptible to identify threats and changes in their readiness if they do not yet feel secure in their nascent identity [30,38].…”

“…In the early phases of the cognitive process leading to readiness, an awareness of what needs to change and an appraisal of whether to change by outweighing the costs and bene ts is essential [41,44,46]. In this case, interprofessional awareness refers to professionals' understanding of their values and beliefs as well as the stereotypes they and others may hold, in addition to their attitudes toward the bene ts and challenges innate to IPC [7,11,37,40]. Self-e cacy is increasingly important in the later stages for students in becoming con dent collaborators whom positively self-evaluate their capabilities in dealing with change [7,[46][47][48].…”