Clinical Research Directory

Developing Competency Awareness and Clinical Coordination in a Neonatal Unit

In neonatal care, patient safety depends not only on individual clinical skills, but also on how teams recognize and use the competencies available during a shift. When staff are uncertain about who is able to perform specific tasks, coordination can become difficult, and responsibilities may be unevenly distributed. This study examines a structured intervention in a neonatal unit aimed at supporting the development of clinical competencies and increasing staff awareness of each other's capabilities. The intervention combines competency mapping, facilitated reflection, simulation-based activities, and ongoing dialogue with clinical coordinators to support everyday coordination and task allocation. The study uses a mixed-methods design, including questionnaires and qualitative data, to explore how the intervention is implemented in practice and whether it contributes to changes in staff experiences of competence, collaboration, and confidence in clinical work.

Interprofessional Collaboration in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU): An Action-Research Training Project

This study evaluates the impact of a structured interprofessional training program on daily collaboration within the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU/UTIC) at the University Hospital of Parma. In high-intensity clinical settings, rapid and accurate coordination between physicians, nurses, and healthcare assistants is vital. Ineffective teamwork often leads to communication breakdowns, potentially compromising patient safety and care quality. This project investigates whether an interactive, scenario-based educational program can strengthen role clarity, communication, and shared decision-making. The study seeks to determine if an active-learning program using interactive branching scenarios improves interprofessional collaboration more effectively than traditional methods. The researchers hypothesize that this simulation-based approach will significantly enhance professional outcomes, including self-efficacy, shared decision-making, and commitment to both the team and the profession. The study utilizes a convenience sample (approx. 5 physicians, 30 nurses, 8 healthcare assistants, and 10 students). Eligible participants include staff and students currently or recently active in the Parma CICU who provide informed consent. The intervention is delivered via a Moodle-based platform featuring case-based simulations. These scenarios replicate complex clinical pathways, such as: Cath-lab and Electrophysiology procedures. Heart failure management. TAVI (Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation) preparation. As participants navigate these scenarios, they must make critical decisions and receive immediate feedback designed to reinforce collaborative best practices. Data Collection and Timeline Data is gathered at three intervals: T0 (Baseline), T1 (Post-training), and T2 (6-month follow-up). Validated questionnaires measure: Attitudes toward physician-nurse collaboration. Perceived daily collaboration and decision-making satisfaction. Professional commitment and work-related self-efficacy. The training phase spans six months, with a subsequent six-month follow-up, totaling a 24-month project duration. Ethics and Privacy Risks are minimal, primarily involving the time required for participation. The primary benefit is the development of skills that foster safer, more coordinated patient care. Privacy is strictly maintained through pseudo-anonymization, with data access restricted to the research team.

Low VS High-fidelity Interprofessional Simulation for ABG Skills Acquisition

This randomized clinical trial will evaluate the effectiveness of an interprofessional simulation intervention for medical and nursing students. The primary aim is to compare the effectiveness of high-fidelity versus low-fidelity interprofessional simulation in improving knowledge and skills related to the ABG test. The hypothesis is that participants in the high-fidelity interprofessional simulation group will develop better knowledge and skills for ABG testing compared to those in the low-fidelity group. The secondary aims are to evaluate the effectiveness of high-fidelity interprofessional simulation compared to low-fidelity interprofessional simulation in (i) enhancing self-efficacy and self-confidence in learning, and (ii) improving interprofessional education and satisfaction with the simulation experience. It is hypothesized that participants in the high-fidelity interprofessional simulation group will report higher levels of self-efficacy, self-confidence, interprofessional education, and satisfaction with the learning experience post-intervention compared to those in the low-fidelity interprofessional simulation group. The key questions it seeks to address are: 1. Does high-fidelity interprofessional simulation help in developing better technical skills for ABG testing? 2. Does high-fidelity interprofessional simulation lead to greater self-efficacy and self-confidence? 3. Does high-fidelity interprofessional simulation lead to greater satisfaction with the experience, readiness for interprofessional simulation, and better perceptions of interprofessional education? The researchers will compare high-fidelity interprofessional simulation (immersive medical training room with an actor) to low-fidelity interprofessional simulation (a structured clinical case analysis) to assess whether high-fidelity simulation effectively enhances knowledge and skills on arterial blood gas tests, as well as interprofessional collaboration and attitudes. Participants will: * Attend brief interactive lessons on the principles, technique, and interpretation of arterial blood gas tests. * Participate in a series of clinical-based interprofessional simulation scenarios delivered in low- or high-fidelity.

Assessment of Interprofessional Competencies of Healthcare Professionals Before and After Healthcare Simulation Sessions

The aim of our study is to assess the interprofessional competencies of healthcare learners before and one month after interprofessional simulation sessions, and to demonstrate their impact on the work of healthcare professionals as part of their continuing education in a hospital setting. Initially, we will distribute a self-assessment questionnaire to all learners before the simulation sessions and again one month after the sessions. Hospital-based healthcare professionals register for the simulation training through the continuing education department of Gonesse Hospital. Physicians and medical students register through the training's designated physician. Paramedical students register through the training's designated nurse manager. We conduct two simulation training sessions per month on the topic of "Adult Life-Threatening Emergencies: Cardiac Arrest." Each session is composed of an interprofessional group. Before the start of the session, the questionnaire is distributed to all participants. Learners are asked to indicate only their profession and the date on the questionnaire. Each questionnaire is assigned a number in the order of collection to ensure anonymity. One month later, we resend the same questionnaire by email to the participants. This is a self-assessment questionnaire developed in Canada and scientifically validated, used to evaluate interprofessional collaboration competencies (Survey for the Achievement of Interprofessional Collaborative Competencies: SACCI). In a second phase, we will compare the results of the self-assessment questionnaires completed before and one month after the simulation sessions, using statistical analysis via Excel spreadsheet.

Impact of Interprofessional Training and Co-ordination on Early Identification and Proactive Approach to End-of-life Situations in the Context of Primary Care

More than 300,000 people die each year in France from a disease that may require palliative care. Nevertheless, only a small proportion of these patients are able to access this care, in particular because of a too late identification. While several factors may hinder access to specialized palliative care resources, one of the major barriers to the initiation of palliative care, and particularly to the implementation of quality end-of-life care, Remains the failure to recognize that patients with advanced chronic illness are actually approaching the end of their lives. However, it is now clearly established that early integration of palliative care in the care of people living with a serious, incurable and progressive disease: * has an impact on the quality (and sometimes the expectation) of life of these people, * avoids aggressive treatments and unplanned hospitalizations, * is associated with lower health costs than other end-of-life patients. Primary health care providers have a major role to play in facilitating access to palliative care, but their practice has been hampered in our country by the fragmented and poorly coordinated nature of primary care and Negligible in terms of training. However, they remain the first contact of the patients with the system of care, and are also structuring for the continuation of the patient's journey within the health system. The first hypothesis is that the work of genuine interprofessional primary care teams in multi-professional health centers (MSPs), coupled with adequate training in the use of simple tools, can contribute to the early identification of patients approaching End of life, to meet their palliative care needs. However, various European programs (Gold Standards Framework in the UK, NECPAL in Catalonia, RADPAC in the Netherlands) have shown that identification alone is not enough to increase access to specialized palliative care. The second hypothesis is that it must be articulated for this with a training of the professionals to carry out conversations of anticipated planning of the care with their patients.