title: A multidisciplinary education project in primary care.
abstract: The Department of Health (DoH) document, 'The New NHS - Working Together' (1998b) recognizes that education and training have a crucial role to play in the development of effective interprofessional work among practitioners. The aim of this article is to provide an account of a project that has been implemented in an East London National Health Service (NHS) Primary Health Trust as well as the experience of using practice-based shared learning with a group of clinical nurse specialists and other health professionals. It outlines the beginnings of the development of the group and discusses the process of facilitating learning, which would enable practitioners to develop in-house training for their staff in clinical practice throughout the Trust. Evaluation of the experience and reflection on the learning that occurred highlighted both positive and negative outcomes at individual and group levels. Findings revealed that shared learning included wider appreciation of each other's skills and increased confidence in multidisciplinary working. Disadvantages, however, included shared learning being considered time-consuming and difficult to facilitate, with participants struggling to cover their normal workloads as well as attending the training programme.
authors.affiliation: St Bartholomew School of Nursing and Midwifery, City University, London.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Partis
mesh_terms: D003152:Community Health Nursing / Q000193:education*; D003479:Curriculum; D004493:Education; D006801:Humans; D009720:Nurse Clinicians / Q000193:education*; D010348:Patient Care Team; D011320:Primary Health Care; D006113:United Kingdom