A Feminist Poststructural Case Study of Nursing's Engagement in Interprofessional Education

Abstract

<p>Nursing is a primary partner on the interprofessional team, yet there is minimal empirical evidence of nurse educators acting as architects of interprofessional education. Feminist poststructuralism (FPS) guides an exploration of nursing’s engagement in interprofessional education (IPE) using Yin’s (2009) case study methodology. A multiple case design of three English-language baccalaureate nursing programs investigates research questions: What are the antecedents of nursing’s engagement in IPE; how are nurse educators/nursing faculty engaged in IPE; how does gender impact nursing’s involvement in IPE development and implementation; and, how is nursing’s IPE engagement impacted by contextual factors inherent in health professional and academic contexts? Data from documents, archival records, individual and focus group interviews, field notes, non-participant observation, and a demographic questionnaire are reported in three individual case reports. A cross case analysis report is interpreted through FPS tenets including language, discourse, subjectivity, and power. Findings indicate that despite valuing IPE, nursing’s IPE engagement is minimal, inconsistent, and diverse in the presence of discrepant and/or uncertain understandings of the term interprofessional. The cross-case analysis outcome speaks principally of nursing’s general experience in the academy, with IPE engagement seemingly providing the vehicle to convey messages of enduring concern and tension inherent in nursing’s experience in the academy. Prominent concepts uncovered include nurse academic, professional subjectivity, and professional identity. Historic, hegemonic discourses of women, nurse, and nursing’s relationship with medicine impact nursing’s professional subjectivity such that nurse academics’ sense of professional self and professional confidence are viewed as antecedents to nursing’s IPE engagement.</p>