The status of interprofessional medical and nursing education in wound care at German higher education institutions

Objective: Chronic wounds pose an increasing challenge to the German healthcare system and require solid knowledge in wound care. Interprofessional education can contribute to improving the quality of care. This study aimed to evaluate the current state of interprofessional wound care education in medical and nursing programs at German higher education institutions. Methods: Based on the National Competence-Based Learning Objectives Catalog for Medicine (NKLM), expert standards and the Nursing Professions Training and Examination Ordinance (PflAPrV), a questionnaire with four closed and two open items was developed to assess the curricular integration of learning objectives, teaching methods, and interprofessional concepts. The survey was distributed to teaching staff responsible for medical programs (n=40) and primary qualifying nursing programs (n=30) in Germany. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis. Results: A total of 77 teaching staff members participated in the survey (58 from medicine and 19 from nursing). The majority stated that they teach learning objectives related to wound care in their courses. This indicates that this topic is broadly integrated into the curriculum, albeit with varying degrees of depth in terms of content and structural design. Interprofessional teaching formats are offered by 21% of nursing programs and 60% of medical programs. Nursing programs are characterized by a practice-oriented, coherent approach, while medical programs show fragmentation across different professions and semesters. Conclusion: Despite curricular integration, structured interprofessional learning opportunities in wound care are still needed.