Interprofessional Competencies for Effective Interprofessional Collaborative Practices Amongst Intensive Care Unit Teams in the North West Province, South Africa: A Cross-Sectional Survey.

Abstract

Background: Intensive Care Unit (ICU) teams depend on practical interprofessional collaborative competencies to deliver comprehensive care, ensuring quality outcomes for critically ill patients. The interprofessional competency domain framework is a key strategy to support and develop attitudes, skills, values, and knowledge needed for effective interprofessional collaborative practices. This study aimed to identify the interprofessional competencies required of ICU teams in North West Province, South Africa, for effective interprofessional collaboration practices in the intensive care unit.

Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted among nurses, doctors, clinical facilitators, and pharmacists working in the North West Province ICUs using a structured online self-administered questionnaire. A stratified sampling was used to recruit participants for this study. Descriptive and inferential statistics approaches were used to analyse data. Eighty-eight surveys were completed correctly and retrieved, presenting a 52% response rate of the 168 total population.

Results: The findings suggest that years of experience, age, gender, and professional roles significantly impact how ICU teams perceive and execute interprofessional competencies. The study has shown that ICU teams strongly agree on the importance of all the interprofessional competencies for effective interprofessional collaborative practices in ICU settings. The interprofessional competencies promote patient-centred care, ethical conduct, team engagement, and positive team dynamics amongst the ICU teams. However, there is a need to improve at building interdependent relationships among the ICU teams. Developing interdependent relationships amongst the ICU teams will build on integrated work, communication, appreciation of each professional role, and a positive psychological environment to demonstrate interprofessional competencies. These insights underline the importance of tailored training programmes, such as interprofessional continuous professional development programmes that consider these demographic and team relations factors to enhance interprofessional collaboration practices and patient care in ICU settings.

Conclusion: This study serves as a first step in determining the importance of interprofessional competencies amongst ICU teams in North West Province, South Africa, and highlights the gaps in the execution of interprofessional competencies in ICU teams. The study further provided recommendations on strategies that can be adopted to enhance the interprofessional competencies of the ICU teams. The study could set a platform for other studies that investigate interventions that could be adopted by healthcare regulatory councils, curriculum developers, and healthcare educators in developing interprofessional continuous professional development programmes for ICU teams. Interprofessional continuous professional development programmes will incorporate equity, consideration of building interdependence relations, access, and inclusion.