Interprofessional interventions that impact collaboration and quality of care across inpatient trauma care continuum: A scoping review

Introduction

Despite the recognized importance of interprofessional collaboration (IPC) in trauma care, healthcare professionals often work in silos. Interprofessional (IP) interventions are crucial for optimizing IPC and delivering high-quality care across clinical contexts, yet their effectiveness throughout the inpatient trauma care continuum is not well understood. Thus, this review aimed to examine the literature on the effectiveness of IP interventions on collaboration processes and related outcomes in inpatient trauma care.

Methods

We conducted a scoping review following Joanna Briggs Institute's methodology. We searched six databases for studies from the last decade on IP interventions in inpatient trauma care. Two independent reviewers categorized IP interventions (education, practice, organization) and extracted their impact on IPC processes and related outcomes (team performance, patient, organization).

Results

Of the 17,397 studies screened, 148 met the inclusion criteria. Most were cohort designs (72%), conducted in level I trauma centers (57%) and emergency departments (51%), and involved surgeons (56%) and nurses (53%). Studies focused on IP organization interventions (51%), such as clinical pathways; IP practice interventions (35%), such as trauma team activation protocols; and IP education interventions (14%) including multi-method education. IP practice interventions most effectively improved team performance results, while IP education interventions primarily improved IPC processes. Positive patient outcomes were limited, with few studies examining organizational effects.

Conclusions

Significant advancements are still required in IP interventions and trauma care research. Future studies should rigorously explore the effectiveness of interventions throughout the inpatient trauma care continuum and focus on developing robust measures for patient and organizational outcomes.