Interprofessional Competence of Health and Social Care Professionals Working in Specialized Palliative Care: A Cross-Sectional Study.
Pauliina Kesonen, Leena Salminen, Anu Soikkeli-Jalonen and 2 others
PMID 42057316WHAT IT FOUND
Palliative care professionals rated their teamwork competence good, but lowest in communication and generic teamwork.
Those with interprofessional education and 5-10 years of palliative experience reported higher competence. Self-assessment may overestimate actual skill.
Key findings
01Participants rated their interprofessional competence as good, with the highest scores in values and ethics and patient care, and the lowest in teams and teamwork.
02Participation in interprofessional education was significantly associated with higher total interprofessional competence, particularly in values and ethics and teams and teamwork.
03Years of experience in palliative care were associated with competence, showing a notable increase among those with 5 to 10 years of experience compared to early-career professionals.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study relies on self-assessment, which may lead to overestimation of competence. The response rate was 38.8%, which may affect the representativeness of the data. The sample was predominantly female and from a nursing background, which may limit generalizability to other professions or genders. The instruments used were not pilot-tested before data collection, and psychometric testing is needed. The study was conducted in Finland, and findings may not transfer to other cultural or healthcare contexts. Physiotherapists and occupational therapists were not included in the study, limiting the view of interprofessional competence across all team members.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The study was partially funded by The Finnish Association of Nursing Research.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the high self-assessed competence scores as evidence of objective skill. The authors explicitly state that self-assessment may lead to overestimation and that no objective measures were used. The low scores in teamwork and communication should be viewed as a call for training, not as proof of deficiency.