InnovationCENTER: Collaborative Interprofessional Simulation in a Baccalaureate Nursing Education Program

Abstract

A GROWING BODY OF LITERATURE IDENTIFIES THE NEED FOR COLLABORATIVE, INTERPROFESSIONAL SIMULATED LEARNING. The Institute of Medicine (IOM), for example, wrote that academic institutions and health care organizations need to make a real commitment to inter-professional education that develops and sustains collaborative skills, both before and after licensure (IOM, 2009, p. 37). Patient simulation, using high-fidelity simulators and standardized patients, has been shown to be an effective tool for bridging the gap between didactic material and its application to the clinical setting. When simulations are based on authentic patient scenarios and involve team members from different disciplines, all learners can benefit. This article reports on a partnership designed to create a dynamic, comprehensive, high-fidelity simulation with practical applications for medical residents and baccalaureate nursing students. The overall purpose of the interprofessional simulation was to assess the readiness for collaborative communication and teamwork for graduating senior BSN students. The goals were twofold: a) assess the readiness of the senior nursing student for practice as a graduate nurse focusing on safety, communication, and teamwork, including delegation, and b) determine readiness as a graduate nurse to function in an interprofessional practice environment. Background The Joint Commission (TJC, 2012) has identified poor communication as the leading cause of patient and system errors. Along with other quality health care agencies, the TJC emphasizes improving communication across the health care continuum and has issued national patient safety goals specifically to improve the effectiveness of communication among caregivers. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing, in collaboration with other health care disciplines, has identified four competency domains for interprofessional education and practice (Interprofessional Education Collaborative Expert Panel, 2011). Two of these domains relate to communication and teamwork and are core components of patient-centered care. These competencies should be emphasized throughout the curriculum. There are few reports of simulations involving medical students, residents, and undergraduate nursing students in an interprofessional learning environment. Reese, Jeffries, and Engum (2010) point out that nursing and medical students have barely any knowledge of the roles and responsibilities of the other disciplines. The IOM stated, Just being around people from other professions is not enough. People need to work through problems together, often with the aid of a coach or facilitator (IOM, 2009, p. 41). The need exists to develop real-world, evidence-based scenarios involving disciplines from across the health care spectrum. Developing the Simulation Experience Faculty in the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor BSN program were interested in developing a meaningful simulation experience for graduating senior nursing students with an emphasis on beginning practice competencies, including communication skills when collaborating with physicians and other health care professionals. Current simulations typically ended with students indicating that the physician would be notified. To create a real-world experience, faculty met with the medical simulation director (MSD) of a large teaching hospital with which the college has a partnership. It was agreed that a muhidisciplinary collaborative simulation involving internal medicine residents and the graduating senior nursing students, to take place in the simulation lab at the school of nursing, would be a valuable experience for both disciplines. Common objectives were developed. * Students will demonstrate safe clinical practice (safe environment, maintaining asepsis). * Students will demonstrate effective interprofessional communication (confidentiality, professional boundaries). …