No abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze the impact of interprofessional pediatric end-of life simulations for health professions students. A quasiexperimental design was used with three TeamSTEPPS® tools. Forty-one students were enrolled (nursing = 20, medicine = 10, pharmacy = 10, public health = 1). TeamSTEPPS 2.0 Teamwork Attitudes Questionnaire and Teamwork Perceptions Questionnaire analysis indicated a significant difference in mean pretest and posttest scores (p = .015 and p = .028, respectively). The Team Performance Observation Tool indicated statistical significance between simulations (p < .001, df = 18, r = .8). Simulations were significantly related to an increase in faculty observation scores, TeamSTEPPS 2.0 Teamwork Attitudes Questionnaire pre-post scores, and TeamSTEPPS 2.0 Teamwork Perceptions Questionnaire pre-post scores.

Integrating interprofessional education (IPE) activities and curricular components in health professions education has been emphasized recently by the inclusion of accreditation standards across disciplines. The Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) established IPE competencies in 2009, but evaluating how activities link to competencies has not been investigated in depth. The purpose of this project is to investigate how well two IPE activities align with IPEC competencies. To evaluate how our IPE activities met IPEC competencies, we developed a checklist and an observation instrument. A brief description of each is included as well as the outcomes. We analyzed Disaster Day, a simulation exercise that includes participants from Nursing, Medicine, and Pharmacy, and Interprofessional Healthcare Ethics (IPHCE), a course that introduced medical, nursing, and pharmacy students to ethical issues using didactic sessions and case discussions. While both activities appeared to facilitate the development of IPE competencies, Disaster Day aligned more with IPEC competencies than the IPHCE course and appears to be a more comprehensive way of addressing IPEC competencies. However, offering one IPE activity or curricular element is not sufficient. Having several IPE options available, utilizing the tools we developed to map the IPE curriculum and evaluating competency coverage is recommended.

Interprofessional collaborative practice is the key to safe, high-quality, accessible, patient-centered care. Achieving this requires the development of interprofessional competencies by health professions students as part of the learning process so that they enter the workforce ready to practice effective team-based care. The authors describe how the immersion process of an international short-term medical mission experience can intensify interprofessional learning by addressing selected Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC), 2011, Core Interprofessional Education Competencies.