Piloting a Multifaceted Interprofessional Education Program to Improve Physical Therapy and Nursing Students' Communication and Teamwork Skills

Abstract

While effective interpersonal communication and teamwork skills among health care professionals are critical to patient safety, health care students have limited opportunities to learn or practice these skills. Therefore, the purpose of this pilot program was to explore the effect of a multifaceted interprofessional education program on the behaviors and perceptions of students from 3 health care professions. Between January and April 2016, students from graduate physical therapy (n = 57), undergraduate nursing (n = 39), and graduate nursing acute care nurse practitioner (n = 6) programs participated in didactic and standardized patient simulation sessions designed to develop teamwork and communication skills. A prospective pre-/postdesign was used to examine program effectiveness using 3 scales: the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (pre-/post-simulation), the Interdisciplinary Education Perception Scale (pre/post-simulation), and the National League of Nursing Student Satisfaction and Self-Confidence in Learning Scale (postsimulation). Statistical analysis of the pre- and postscore Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale and Interdisciplinary Education Perception Scale measures was performed using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. Statistically significant changes were noted pre- to posttest in the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale teamwork/collaboration (P < .001) and professional identity subscales (P ≤ .001). No statistically significant changes were noted in the 4 Interdisciplinary Education Perception Scale subscales pre- and posttest. The National League of Nursing Student Satisfaction and Self-Confidence in Learning Scale results indicated that students had a high level of satisfaction and self-confidence with the knowledge and skills presented. Preliminary findings suggest that using a multifaceted approach that includes standardized patient simulations allowed physical therapy and nursing students to gain valuable experiential knowledge and practice the teamwork behaviors required for safe, high-quality clinical practice.