Teaching interprofessional practice skills to nursing, social work and pharmacy students in primary care health centers

Abstract

Abstract Developing expertise in interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) is essential to producing nurse practitioners, nurses, pharmacists and social workers prepared to function within today's collaborative patient-centered health care system. This paper describes and evaluates the impact of an outpatient interprofessional collaborative clinic on students' self-reported attitudes and competencies. Student competencies were measured using the Team Skills Scale (TSS) and the IPEC Competency Self-Assessment Survey before and after participating in interprofessional collaborative care. Student's reported statistically significant improvement on the TSS from pre to post-test, while data on the IPEC survey showed mixed results with improvements primarily in the teamwork domain. Results suggest that a clinical educational program implemented in an outpatient clinic may be an effective model to promote competency and prepare students to work in an IPCP.