Project info
Work package
- Work
Sustainability threat
- External Shocks
Challenge
- Reshaping organizational forms
Study info
Description of Study
Shared understanding between collaborators is a key element of delivering successful interprofessional care and a main challenge for vocational education concerns nurturing such understanding among students. This study assesses how nursing students perceived different levels of shared understanding in their collaborations with others in vocational internships. We analyze the collaborative networks of interns to examine whether individual factors (attitudes, perceptions of collaborative cultures, and motivation) or relational factors between collaborators (task-interdependence, cooperation frequency, and interprofessional and hierarchical roles) affect shared understanding among 150 Dutch nursing interns and their collaborators (n=865). Theoretically, we stress the importance of focusing on collaborative relations in interprofessional care settings. Multilevel models distinguish two levels in explaining the variation in shared understanding, nesting collaborative relationships within individuals. Results indicate merely 37.4% of found variation of shared understanding could be attributed to individual-level factors (variation between interns), while 62.6% of variation is found within interns, showing that shared understanding differs substantially between the collaborations one intern engages in. Multilevel models reveal that task-interdependence strongly predicts shared understanding in inter- and intraprofessional collaborations. We conclude that focusing on collaborative relations is essential to foster shared understanding in vocational internship programs, and that health care organizations should pay explicit attention to task-interdependence in interns’ collaborations.
Study research question
How is shared understanding in health care interns’ collaborative relations affected by characteristics of the collaborative relation and characteristics of the health care intern?
Collection provenance
- Collected during project
Collection methods
- Questionaire
Personal data
Yes
External Source
Source description
File formats
- .r
- .csv
Data types
- Structured
Languages
- Dutch
Coverage start
Coverage end
01/04/2019
30/06/2019
Spatial coverage
Netherlands
Groningen
Drenthe
Collection period start
01/04/2019
Collection period end
30/06/2019
Variables
Unit
Unit description
Sample size
Sampling method
Individuals
First-year Nursing students in vocational training internships in the North of the Netherlands
150
Participants in a particular internship program
Hypothesis
Theory
The more a relation between two individuals qualifies as interprofessional cooperation, the lower the level of shared understanding.
Joint production motivation
The more a relation between two individuals qualifies as crossing hierarchical boundaries, the lower the level of shared understanding.
Joint production motivation
Task-interdependence will positively affect shared understanding in interns’ collaborative relations.
Joint production motivation
The effect of task-interdependence on shared understanding will be stronger in interprofessional collaborative relations than in intraprofessional relations.
Joint production motivation
The effect of task-interdependence on shared understanding will be stronger in collaborative relations across hierarchical boundaries than in collaborative relations between interns.
Joint production motivation
Variable type
Variable name
Variable description
Dependent variable
Shared Understanding
5-point Likert scale, measured per dyad
Independent variable
Task Interdependence
5-point Likert scale, measured per dyad
Independent variable
Cooperation Frequency
5-point Likert scale, measured per dyad
Independent variable
Role
Categorical variable, measured per dyad
Independent variable
Professional Background
Categorical variable, measured per dyad
Control variable
Interprofessional Attitude
5-point Likert scale
Control variable
Collaborative Culture
5-point Likert scale
Discipline-specific operationalizations
Conflict of interest
There are no conflicts of interest in the data collection, analysis, or description.
Data packages
Publications
Shared understanding and task-interdependence in nursing interns’ collaborative relations: A social network study of vocational health care internships in the Netherlands.
Teekens, T., Giardini, F., Kirgil, Z. M., & Wittek, R. (2023). Shared understanding and task-interdependence in nursing interns’ collaborative relations: A social network study of vocational health care internships in the Netherlands. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 37(6), 999-1009. https://doi.org/10.1080/13561820.2023.2209123
Shared Understanding and Task-Interdependence in Nursing Interns’ Collaborative Relations: A Social Network Study of Vocational Health Care Internships in The Netherlands
Documents
Filename
Description
Date
Ethics
Ethical assessment
Yes
Ethical committee
Ethics Committee Sociology at RUG