Health profession readiness for interprofessional education in the Central Appalachia: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: This study on interprofessional relationships took place in Eastern Kentucky analyzing optometry, medical and nursing students at the University of Pikeville. The Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS), regarding all three healthcare professional schools, was used to measure and determine students' views on working with one another. The purpose of the study was to examine similarities and differences in student attitudes across the three health professional programs within the same university. Methods: Second year University of Pikeville (UPIKE) nursing, optometry, and medical students were given survey questions that followed the validated 19-item Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS). Results: While the optometry and medical students demonstrated statistically similar attitudes, key statistical findings included that nursing students were more likely than medical students to believe that clinical problem solving can only be learned effectively with students/professionals from their own school/organization (p = 0.015); nursing students were more likely than medical students to welcome the opportunity to work on small group projects with other health and social care students/professionals (p = 0.018); and nursing students were more likely than both optometry and medical students to not be sure what their professional role will be/is (p=.005). Conclusions: At the UPIKE, there is an observable difference between the attitudes toward IPE. Nursing students appeared to have a more positive attitude toward IPE than medical and optometry students, with the medical and optometry students having similar attitudes.