Exploring prehospital perceptions of interprofessional knowledge as a factor in emergency centre handover: a qualitative study of prehospital emergency care personnel

Introduction: a significant proportion of medical errors can be attributed to miscommunication between healthcare professionals. Effective interprofessional handover is heavily dependent on interprofessional collaboration, which can itself be affected by factors such as hierarchies, interprofessional differences, and unawareness of the other professionals' skillsets and expertise. The purpose of this study was to establish the potential effect(s) that interprofessional knowledge or lack thereof had on interprofessional communication and collaboration within prehospital to emergency centre (EC) patient handover. 

Methods: a qualitative descriptive design was used, with face-to-face, semi-structured interviews to gather data from 15 purposefully selected prehospital emergency care providers. Interviews were transcribed and imported into ATLAS.ti where they were coded using the principles of qualitative description. Data collection was concluded when saturation had been reached. 

Results: four dominant themes were identified relating to interprofessional knowledge as a factor in prehospital to emergency centre (EC) handover. These themes were: 1) lack of interprofessional knowledge, 2) lack of understanding of working environments, 3) prehospital understanding of pressures within the EC, and 4) the need for interprofessional education and collaboration. 

Conclusion: this is one of the few studies in a middle-income country relating the prehospital to the emergency centre patient handover. Improving interprofessional knowledge regarding qualification, capabilities, and working environment, interprofessional respect and communication can potentially improve interprofessional patient handover and patient safety. The findings of this study could be used to inform healthcare providers, policymakers, healthcare staff, and researchers to formulate intervention strategies to improve prehospital to emergency centre patient handover.