Interprofessional care is essential in healthcare, but prior work has shown that physicians and nurses tend to have different perceptions about working interprofessionally (interprofessional attitudes). Although training has been shown to improve interprofessional attitudes, providing traditional face to face training is logistically challenging in the healthcare setting. The current study examined whether a virtual interprofessional training program could improve interprofessional attitudes for nurses and physicians. Among a sample of 35 physicians and nurses, results suggested that engagement in a virtual interprofessional training program was associated with improvements in interprofessional attitudes (i.e., perceived ability to work with, value in working with, and comfort in working with other professions) (p = .002), with attitudes improving an average of 0.25 points on a six-point scale (Cohen's d = 0.52). As a secondary aim, results showed that the magnitude of change in interprofessional attitudes did not differ significantly between physicians and nurses. Altogether, results suggest that virtual interprofessional training appears to be a suitable way to begin to improve interprofessional attitudes for both physicians and nurses.
Keywords: Professional cultures; e-learning; interprofessional education; teamwork.