German nursing study develops three-year interprofessional curriculum

A mixed-methods study in German undergraduate nursing education reports the development of a nine-chapter core curriculum designed to strengthen interprofessional competencies across the three-year nursing program. The interEdu project created the curriculum using qualitative interviews, standardized interviews and evidence syntheses. Researchers combined these results through joint displays and discussed them in an expert workshop before the interprofessional project team designed the curriculum. The reported achievement is therefore a structured curriculum and the process used to develop it, rather than a measured improvement in student performance or professional practice.

At the center of the interEdu curriculum is a framework of interprofessional competencies. This framework provides the basis for competence descriptions that are formulated across all three years of nursing education. The nine chapters are arranged in a spiral structure, with modules and learning units organized according to the situational principle. In this arrangement, core content is addressed at successive stages rather than being confined to one point in the program. The design is intended to expose learners repeatedly to interprofessional learning as their nursing education progresses, allowing the associated competence descriptions to become more closely connected with later stages of training.

Particular emphasis is placed on the transfer of learning between different learning venues. The curriculum recommends educational methods suited to this purpose, including learner-centered approaches that support collaborative learning and self-directed learning. These recommendations are closely tied to the curriculum’s structure: the longitudinal competence framework establishes what should be addressed over time, while the modules, learning units and recommended methods specify how the content can be approached in varied educational settings. The authors conclude that the spiral structure and the formulation of interprofessional competencies across the entire undergraduate education cycle should contribute to the continuous development of competencies.

The project’s stated aim is to integrate interprofessional education longitudinally into educational programs for nursing and other healthcare professions. Its wider application is planned within those programs, but the findings supplied by the study concern curriculum construction, the nine-chapter structure, the central competency framework and the teaching methods recommended for moving between learning venues. The mixed-methods approach provided several forms of evidence for that development process: qualitative and standardized interviews, evidence syntheses, joint displays and expert-workshop discussion. The resulting curriculum is presented as a basis for continuous interprofessional learning throughout undergraduate education, with the expected contribution framed as a developmental rationale rather than as demonstrated comparative effectiveness.

Subject of Research: Development of a longitudinal interprofessional competency curriculum for German undergraduate nursing education

Article Title: A longitudinal core curriculum to strengthen interprofessional competencies in German undergraduate nursing education: a mixed methods study

Article References: Lehnen, T., Lueth, F., Wolter, L., Busch, J., Püschel, L., Leimer, M., Rahn, A. C., Balzer, K., & von Gahlen-Hoops, W. (2026). A longitudinal core curriculum to strengthen interprofessional competencies in German undergraduate nursing education: a mixed methods study. BMC Medical Education, 26(1), Article 1449. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-026-10273-z

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DOI: 10.1186/s12909-026-10273-z

Keywords: nursing education, interprofessional education, curriculum development, mixed methods, competency framework, German higher education, learner-centered learning, collaborative learning, self-directed learning, healthcare professions, longitudinal, core