Contribution of nursing professionals to the humanization of medical students through the activity 'interview with a health care professional'

Abstract

Humanization of healthcare requires the acquisition and promotion of these global competences also in university students of health professions since their early years. The educational innovation and research Project Humanizing Healthcare (humanizAS) is developed at the University of Valladolid and supported by VirtUVa in presently five health professions and aims at this objective. In the activity ‘Interview a Healthcare Professional’ a group of students interview a healthcare professional about his/her experience on this topic. The contribution of 21 Nursing professionals interviewed by Medicine students since the course 2019-20 is shown following the five dimensions of the Healthcare Professional Humanization Scale (HUMAS): Affection, Self-efficacy, Emotional understanding, Optimistic disposition and Sociability. Real examples of verbalizations for each dimension are provided. Results of participants of the BIP that had previously answered to the HUMAS (n=12) are also shown. The obtained total score was 76,5/95, showing a high level of self-assessed humanization dimensions in Nursing students. They agreed that humanization of healthcare meant distinguishing patients versus people, and that humanization improved professionals’ efficiency. The main conclusions are: 1. Interviews to experienced Nursing professionals helps to promote humanization competences in university students of health professions. 2. Humanizing healthcare in students of early years is essential for improving healthcare in different clinical settings.