The aims of this study were to implement and evaluate an innovative collaborative event with hospitalized patients to help develop dental hygiene and nursing students' interprofessional competence. The Interprofessional Collaborative Competency Attainment Survey (ICCAS) was used to assess the students' perceptions of interprofessional skill acquisition. Participants were 24 dental hygiene and 25 nursing students at the University of Southern Indiana in spring 2016. The results showed that all students had statistically significant improvement on the ICCAS items from pretest to posttest. There were no significant differences in improvement between the two groups on any single posttest item as the impact of the responses was similar. These results suggest that incorporating collaborative experiences in hospital settings can be an effective means to develop students' skills in interprofessional competence.

Statistical depth and related quantile functions, originally introduced for nonparametric description and analysis of multivariate data in a way sensitive to inherent geometry, are in active development for functional data and in this setting offer special options since the data may be visualized regardless of dimension. Here depth-based methods are provided for revealing the structure of the data set in terms of relevant sample quantile curves displayed at selected levels, and for constructing and displaying confidence bands for corresponding "population" versions. Also, the functional boxplot is enhanced, by adding inner fences to flag possible shape outliers, along with the outer fences that flag location outliers. This enables the boxplot to serve as a stand-alone tool for functional data, as with univariate and multivariate data. Further, the spatial depth approach, well-established for multivariate data, is investigated for nonparametric description of functional data. In comparison with four other depth-based approaches for functional data over a range of actual and simulated data sets, this approach is seen to offer a very competitive combination of robustness, efficiency, computational ease, simplicity, and versatility.

Access to oral health care is challenging, especially for vulnerable populations and those in rural and underserved areas. The purpose of this brief report is to discuss the implementation strategies of enhanced content in oral health educational materials and share results of acquisition of knowledge and confidence in oral health content by residents in a nurse practitioner residency program. The method included the use of 3 surveys of 34 questions administered at different time points measuring confidence levels and sustainability. Results showed the average level of confidence obtained in Posttest1 and in Posttest 2 after 6 months is greater than the pretest. The paired-sample t-test provides significant evidence of improving mean responses for Questions 10, 11, 16, and 32 in Posttest 1 (p-values: .04 each) and Questions 10, 17, 25, and 31 in Posttest2 (p-values: .04 each) compared with the pretest. In conclusion, the addition of enhanced oral health educational materials in our program resulted in improved knowledge and confidence in the residents to incorporate oral health care in their practices.

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Oral health is a leading public healthcare priority in Healthy People 2030 1 and the Surgeon General's Report. 2 Access to oral health is problematic, especially in rural and underserved areas having dental care health professional shortage areas (HPSAs). Dental professionals partnering with nurse practitioners (NPs) working in communitybased settings who serve HPSAs could be a solution to obtaining dental care. NPs are well positioned to complete oral health examinations, assess for potential oral and systemic-related risks, provide aspects of preventive oral care, and make appropriate referrals. Enhanced oral health training for non-dental providers can result in positive outcomes when oral exams, risk assessments, patient education, and referrals occur routinely. 3 SOLUTIONDuring the initial development of a Nurse Practitioner Residency (NPR) program, a gap related to oral health TA B L E 1 Competency statement survey.Survey: as a result of the clinical rotation, please rate each competency statement according to agreement level using the following Likert scale: 1 = strongly disagree; 2 = disagree; 3 = neutral; 4 = agree; 5 = strongly agree 1. Understanding how to perform a comprehensive history and physical exam in this specialty 2. Selecting which appropriate screening and diagnostic test to order in this specialty 3. Distinguishing between clinical situations which require consultation and clinical situations which may be managed without a referral 4. Understanding basic pharmacology and the selection and administration of medications commonly used in the specialty 5. Applying and evaluating the assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and management of common medical conditions seen in this specialty including those most commonly encountered in primary care 6. Understanding and recognizing clinical procedures commonly implemented in this specialty 7. The dental professionals effectively provided coaching regarding integrating knowledge in practice 8. The dental professionals exhibited professional communication skills that facilitated learning 9. The dental professionals modeled compassion and care in professional practice 10. The dental professionals modeled strong clinical reasoning skills 11. The dental professionals facilitated and demonstrated organizational and leadership traits 12. The dental professionals exhibited a positive attitude for coaching 13. The dental professionals were engaged in the clinical experience 14. The clinical environment was conducive to learning 15. The overall learning experience was positive