Interprofessional education collaborative: A pilot simulation project

Abstract

BackgroundInterprofessional education (IPE) is fundamental to healthcare because good team functioning is associated with good patient outcomes, increased staff satisfaction, and high quality of patient care. This paper will discuss an IPE collaboration at a university in Southwest Georgia in partnership with the local health care facility with nursing students and a variety of allied health students. InnovationThe mission of the project was to facilitate interprofessional simulation opportunities and academic-practice partnerships among health care faculty, professionals, and students. The goals were to establish four interprofessional competency domains for collaborative practice: values/ethics, roles/responsibilities, interprofessional communication, and teamwork during an interdisciplinary simulation experience. ResultsAt the completion of the collaborative IPE, participants from the respective educational disciplines were able to appreciate the four interprofessional competency domains. More IPE simulations are recommended to enhance learners’ knowledge and skills. ConclusionThe collaboration among all health care students will lay the groundwork for more advanced learning activities and can offer immense opportunities for students to be “practice ready” graduates into the workforce which leads to improvements in patient outcomes.