Interprofessional Activities Research Articles

Becoming a team player: Evaluating a simulation interprofessional activity between third year nursing students and second year medical radiation science students - A feasibility study

BackgroundSimulation activities allow students to engage in interprofessional learning in safe, low-risk environments conducive to learning. This enables students to make connections between different health professionals outside of the clinical setting to help improve their practical patient centered care. SampleThird year nursing and second year medical radiation sciences students. MethodParticipants were invited to take part in an interprofessional simulation activity. Participants could then choose to complete an online survey after the practical simulation activity. ResultsSurvey results showed that most participants found the simulation IPL activity to be useful. ConclusionSimulation education can be implemented to raise awareness of the roles of nursing and medical radiation science student practitioners by other student practitioners. There is scope to incorporate interprofessional simulation activities in future curriculum educational design to aid student interprofessional awareness, communication and collaboration.

First-year health professions students’ interprofessional identity development following participation in a brief introductory interprofessional activity: a qualitative study

ABSTRACT Healthcare providers need to simultaneously identify with their own profession and the broader interprofessional group to improve interprofessional team functioning and collaboration. The purpose of this study was to explore firstyear healthcare students’ interprofessional identity development following a brief introductory interprofessional activity. The Extended Professional Identity Theory (EPIT) served as the framework for this qualitative study. The sample included 1,047 students from 19 different health professions at one institution in the first semester of their professional program. Deductive content analysis was used to analyze students’ reflections from two reflective questions in a mandatory course evaluation survey. The 24-item version of the Extended Professional Identity Scale was used as a structured categorization matrix for deductive coding of student reflections to the three EPIT constructs: interprofessional belonging, commitment, and beliefs. Participant responses, spanning all three EPIT constructs, support the ability of early health professions learners to demonstrate the development of an emerging interprofessional identity. Future research is needed to assess IPI at various points across the curriculum and to explore between profession differences and the implications for foundational IPE design and learning along the continuum into practice.

Preparing healthcare professional students for rural, regional and remote practice: demonstrating the effectiveness of an interprofessional simulation learning experience

ABSTRACT Undertaking an authentic interprofessional simulation experience may be a useful and consistent strategy for healthcare professional students to build competencies required for a rural healthcare context. An observational comparative study design was adopted to evaluate a clinical simulation experience created to develop the interprofessional competencies of a sample of healthcare professional students at a regional university situated on multiple campuses in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Over 200 students across three campuses of the university were involved in a simulation experience that included four interprofessional activities. Of these students, 189 (89%) agreed to participate in the study. The healthcare professional students who participated in the study were from second year occupational therapy, physiotherapy, and podiatry, and third year speech pathology programs. Retrospective pre and post self-assessed interprofessional collaborative competencies were compared for all students using the revised Interprofessional Collaborative Attainment Survey (ICCAS). Results demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in self-perceived scores using the validated revised ICCAS survey. The findings of this study suggest that carefully designed and authentic interprofessional simulation experiences can facilitate the development of competencies required for effective interprofessional practice, which are necessary for successful rural practice.

Interprofessional simulations to promote spring break safety and cultural awareness for healthcare students

Interprofessional simulation-based learning provides collegiate students with safe, realistic scenarios to learn and refine vital health related skills. This article describes an innovative project that engages college students from various disciplines in simulation-based activities to enhance health and professional knowledge, promote safety awareness, and improve cultural sensitivity. Additionally, the theme of traveling domestically and/or abroad during spring break provided a true-to-life backdrop. The Activity Theory provides the framework for this study emphasizing collaborative learning toward shared goals. Six spring break themed simulation scenarios were created and evaluated using a mix-methods design. Pre-posttest measures were conducted using the Student Perceptions of Interprofessional Clinical Education-Revised Instrument, and open-ended responses. Twenty-eight students completed the survey showing statistically significant change scores from pre-post. Qualitative findings identified three overarching themes of participants’ gains: 1) knowledge of other healthcare professionals’ roles, 2) healthcare professions’ contributions to patient care, 3) being respectful of other cultures, being prepared when traveling, and knowing how to improvise while traveling abroad. Students enjoyed a meaningful and engaging interprofessional activity while learning about one another’s professions, appreciating other healthcare professions’ roles, developing awareness and respect for other cultures, and practicing skills that may be needed during challenging encounters while traveling.

Interprofessional education in undergraduate dental curricula: A systematic review.

Health professionals who effectively communicate and coordinate their work increase patient safety and quality of care. Therefore, an interprofessional education (IPE) program may be a valuable addition to the curriculum of health science courses. This study aims to verify how IPE has been implemented in undergraduate dental program curricula. This is a qualitative systematic review performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines with qualitative and qualitative-quantitative studies selected in the period between 2011 and 2021. The guiding question was as follows: how has IPE been implemented in undergraduate dentistry curricula around the world? The quality of the included articles was assessed using the CASP Qualitative Checklist (2018). After the review, 22 studies were selected and data were extracted following the acronym PICo (Population, phenomenon of Interest, and COntext). The majority of studies in which IPE is included in Dentistry come from North American universities. Regarding the IPE teaching methodology, the use of active methodologies was observed and the interprofessional skills most common were role clarity, teamwork, and communication. This systematic review indicated that Dentistry is included in interprofessional activities in many studies around the world, and primarily with colleagues in medicine, nursing, and pharmacy programs. IPE teaching takes place through the use of active methodologies and develops important skills for interprofessional work.

Learning in unaccredited internship as development of interns’ ‘horizontal expertise’

The rise of internships as a form of work experience that students pursue during their degree or after graduation has been accompanied by an upsurge of discussions, critical and favourable, on the role of internships for interns’ employment opportunities. There is a need, however, to understand the learning that goes in internship as for many students internship is a setting where work practices are encountered for the first time. Recently it has been suggested that unaccredited internship can be seen as constituting a separate work activity that needs to be examined in its own right. The aim of this article is to contribute to this literature by focusing on the learning challenges that arise in unaccredited internship and identifying the capacities that interns develop as a result of tackling these challenges. To that end, I identify a set of analytical concepts from vocational learning literature developed to understand the challenges and opportunities associated with learning across contexts (i.e. education and work): horizontal expertise, boundary-crossing, recontextualisation and identity-renegotiation. Then I analyse data on learning in unaccredited internships collected from five focus groups and two interviews (18 interns). A dialogic discourse analysis of focus group and interview discourses revealed that the interns in unaccredited internship developed an emerging capacity to learn and work competently across multiple contexts and to initiate and coordinate subsequent cycles of boundary-crossing between education and work. The paper proposes the notion of “interns’ horizontal expertise” to describe this emerging capacity that arises from learning in unaccredited internship and continues after the internship and explains how this concept differs from other expressions of horizontal expertise in the literature such as the horizontal expertise of seasoned professionals in inter-professional activities and boundary-crossing in work placements.

Embedding patient safety in a scaffold of interprofessional education; a qualitative study with thematic analysis

BackgroundRegardless of a proliferation of interest in reducing unsafe practices in healthcare, threats to patient safety (PS) remain high. Moreover, little attention has been paid towards the role of interprofessional education (IPE) in enhancing PS. This qualitative study was conducted to unfold the insights of the senior medical, dental and health sciences students at the University of Sharjah (UoS) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) about PS in an online IPE-based workshop.MethodsThis inductive thematic analysis study was conducted on senior medical and health students at the Colleges of Medicine, Dental Medicine, Health Sciences, and Pharmacy of UoS. During an online workshop, students discussed plausible solutions for four real practice-based clinical scenarios with elements of unsafe healthcare practices. During the breakout rooms, the students exhibited high level of articulation and proactively participated in discussions. The data from the online workshop were transcribed and then coding, categorizing, and labelling of recurrent themes were carried out. Multiple individual deliberations, consolidation, incorporation of the identified preliminary themes, and merging and reorganizing sub-themes led to a final thematic framework.ResultsThis work delved into the perspectives of 248 students regarding teamwork, communication, problem-solving, and other aspects concerning PS in interprofessional settings in an online workshop. The iterative process of data transcription, curating and qualitative analysis surfaced 32 codes. Later, the inductive themaric analysis yielded five themes with distinct yet interconnected nested subthemes in the context of PS in IPE settings. These themes of information sharing and grounding (problem-solving, social skills), maintaining communication (clinical reasoning, shared mental model), executing interprofessional activities (collaborative practice, collaboration scripts), professional cognitive abilities (cognitive maturity, metacognition), and negotiating professional identities (systematic change, socio-economic scaffolding) emerged as fundamental pillars for enhancing PS in healthcare.ConclusionOur study demonstrated the outcome of an innovative and team-based workshop which embedded PS within a scaffold of IPE environment. This research calls for incorporation of the emerging areas of clinical reasoning, problem solving, collaborative practice, and shared mental model into medical curricula for structured IPE in improving PS domains in medical education. These findings underscore the need for multifaceted dimensions of IPE imperatives for cultivating collaborative competence.

A12Development of a summative assessment method for interprofessional simulation and other interprofessional education (IPE) activities

Collaborative learning is recognized as essential in ensuring the delivery of safe and effective healthcare. It is fundamental to creating the healthcare teams of the future [1,3]. Central to this, is the early exposure of healthcare students to multiple, healthcare professions to begin the process of thinking and practising in a more interprofessional way. Importantly, how the interprofessional experience is assessed is crucial to the success of collaborative learning. This was the background to the development of an interprofessional module within the School of Nursing & Midwifery at Queens’ University Belfast. (1) To collaborate on the development of additional IPE workshops to supplement an established interprofessional simulation model. (2) To develop an assessment component for the interprofessional activities, including interprofessional simulation. (3) To evaluate the process. Drawing upon the expertise associated with the implementation of a highly successful interprofessional simulation programme, an interprofessional education (IPE) group was established with representation across the Faculty. From the outset, there was a need to have a shared understanding of the module and its complexities, and to work together to collectively support the pedagogy, shaping student learning and assessment, and providing the best educational experience [2]. The team collaborated on sourcing and establishing IPE workshops, developing reflective questions, as well as working on designing and integrating an online video within a digital platform, and streaming all students to one interprofessional workshop. An evaluation questionnaire was created using Microsoft Forms. The 17-item questionnaire incorporated three Likert scales, plus two either/or answers and two questions on digital device/browser. The questionnaire had 10 qualitative ‘free response’ questions to allow candidates to elaborate, expand, clarify or illustrate their answers. The collaboration with staff across the Faculty of Medicine Health & Life Sciences resulted in the establishment of four additional IPE workshops to complement an established six. Total number of IPE workshops, Interprofessional opportunities that utilize a reflective video-based assessment contribute positively to the student experience and are a welcome addition to the undergraduate nursing curriculum. Authors confirm that all relevant ethical standards for research conduct and dissemination have been met. The submitting author confirms that relevant ethical approval was granted, if applicable.

FINCA - a conceptual framework to improve interprofessional collaboration in health education and care.

The health care system in Germany and in many other countries is facing fundamental challenges due to demographic change, which require new integrated care concepts and a revision of the collaboration between health care professions in everyday clinical practice. Internationally, several competency framework models have been proposed, but a framework that explicitly conceptualizes collaborative activities to improve interprofessional problem-solving competency in health care is still missing. Such a framework should define contextual, person-related, process-related, and outcome-related variables relevant to interprofessional problem solving in health care. Against this background, we present a conceptual framework to improve interprofessional collaboration in health education and care (FINCA) developed with scientific consideration of empirical data and various theoretical references. FINCA reflects an interprofessional learning and interaction process involving two persons from different health care professions and with different individual learning prerequisites. These two initially identify a problem that is likely to require interprofessional collaboration at some point. FINCA acknowledges the context of interprofessional learning, teaching, and working as well as its action-modifying context factors. We follow the reasoning that individual learning prerequisites interact with the teaching context during learning activities. At the heart of FINCA are observable collaborative activities (information sharing and grounding; negotiating; regulating; executing interprofessional activities; maintaining communication) that can be used to assess individuals' cognitive and social skills. Eventually, the framework envisages an assessment of the outcomes of interprofessional education and collaboration. The proposed conceptual framework provides the basis for analysis and empirical testing of the components and variables it describes and their interactions across studies, educational interventions, and action-modifying contexts. FINCA further provides the basis for fostering the teaching and learning of interprofessional problem-solving skills in various health care settings. It can support faculty and curriculum developers to systematize the implementation and improvement of interprofessional teaching and learning opportunities. From a practical perspective, FINCA can help to better align curricula for different health professions in the future. In principle, we also see potential for transferability of the framework to other areas where different professions collaborate.

A Roadmap to Using Simulation-Enhanced Interprofessional Education to Incorporate Interprofessional Activities in Athletic Training Educational Programs

Context Interprofessional education and collaborative practice (IPECP) is a priority in health care. Collaborative care that includes clinicians across disciplines has been shown across health care to ensure quality patient outcomes. In athletic training, a team approach to clinical practice has been promoted for nearly a decade and continues to gain attention. Interprofessional education (IPE) is a core curricular content standard that requires programs to teach students to practice in collaboration with other health care professionals. Interprofessional education and collaborative practice necessitates students have opportunities to practice before being expected to demonstrate skills clinically. Background To effectively demonstrate IPECP, athletic trainers need exposure to and training in IPECP core competencies during education. Simulation-enhanced IPE (Sim-IPE) is one strategy to integrate these experiences. Between classroom learning and clinical practice, simulation provides an opportunity for students to apply knowledge in a realistic but low-stakes clinical environment. Objective This article will detail strategies to identify and develop Sim-IPE experiences that support achieving educational standards and prepare students for effective IPECP. Description Healthcare Simulation Standards of Best Practice™ and the Association of Standardized Patient Educators best practices were established to guide the design of quality Sim-IPE. This manuscript will provide a roadmap for these best practices, including conducting a needs assessment, coordinating event logistics, designing prebrief sessions, and selecting debrief models. Clinical Advantage(s) Students can gain valuable experience during Sim-IPE. Participation in Sim-IPE improves student understanding of the roles and responsibilities, communication techniques, and teamwork. These factors combine to achieve improved patient outcomes. Conclusion(s) Athletic training programs implementing Sim-IPE should use simulation best practices to provide quality IPECP opportunities.

Early stages of learning in interprofessional education: stepping towards collective competence for healthcare teams

BackgroundInterprofessional education (IPE) is a core element of many health professional education curricula. To date the focus of much research has been on student perceptions of, and attitudes towards, the learning experience. Little is known about the impact of early IPE experience on how students understand and learn about effective interprofessional teamwork.MethodsThis qualitative study involved first year university students enrolled in health professions degrees and investigated their descriptions of interprofessional teamwork through graphic elicitation and interviews. Participants were enrolled in a large-scale interprofessional unit (subject) in the university.ResultsThe data were analysed through the lens of a tool that classifies dimensions of interprofessional activity. The findings indicated the majority of students had what was classified as a Stage 1 (or ‘nascent’) understanding of integration between work practices and a Stage 2 (or ‘emerging’) understanding of the dimensions of interprofessional teamwork which were commitment, identity, goals, roles and responsibilities, and interdependence.ConclusionsBased on the findings, the stages for a learning trajectory for interprofessional education are proposed and each stage is mapped to dimensions of interprofessional activity. A number of pedagogical strategies are suggested in order to move students through this two-stage model of learning and ensure their readiness for interprofessional teamwork as health professionals.

Interprofessional Education in a Psychiatry Clerkship.

The purpose of this initiative was to encourage medical students to develop collaborative relationships with healthcare team members during a required psychiatry clerkship and reflect upon their demonstration of interprofessional competencies. During the clerkship, third year medical students were required to complete two interprofessional activities (from a menu of 18 potential options) in conjunction with nurses, therapists, care coordinators, behavioral health specialists, peer specialists, unit secretaries, or unit managers during care of mutual patients. After completing these activities, students completed a reflection in which they self-reported how they had accomplished specific interprofessional competencies (quantitative and qualitative); the healthcare team members with whom the students collaborated also completed a corresponding reflection (quantitative) of students' interprofessional competence, based upon their interactions. Quantitative feedback from students and staff was paired to look for correlations. Paired responses produced a dataset that included 67 students' self-reflections and 110 feedback submissions from staff. Overall, there was much similarity between students' self-assessment ratings and ratings provided by staff members. Qualitative analysis of students' written feedback indicated they took initiative to take on new roles to support the care team and intentionally sought out healthcare teammates to learn about their roles and to better care for patients. Reflections highlight examples of student advocacy and empathy for patients they served. Results demonstrate that clerkship-based interprofessional education initiatives, designed with intentionality, promote interprofessional collaborative practices and prepare medical students for achieving residency milestones related to interprofessional collaboration.

Teaching digital interprofessional collaboration.

Interprofessional communication in Australian clinical practice has recently shifted from paper records to electronic medical records (EMRs), and there is therefore a need for universities to prepare health graduates for digital communication. An interprofessional team co-designed and co-facilitated an online interprofessional activity for third year pharmacy and fifth year medical students utilising a simulated EMR (EHR Go™). Students completed a series of profession-specific tasks relating to a simulated patient, then came together in interprofessional groups of 10-12 to establish a collaborative medication charting plan. A total of 640 students participated in the activity, of which 60% (386/640) were medical students. Immediately after the interprofessional workshop, students were invited to complete a voluntary anonymous evaluation. Five-point Likert scales were used to rate the relevance to practice, achievement of learning outcomes, organisation and overall quality of the activity. Students were also asked to contribute qualitative feedback. Of the participants, 28% (180/640) completed the survey, and 53% (96/180) of respondents were medical students. A majority of survey respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the activity was relevant to practice (94%; 170/180), achieved the learning outcomes (84%; 151/180), was well organised (74%; 133/180) and was a quality learning experience (79%; 143/180). The positive feedback focused on appreciating the opportunity to discuss with interdisciplinary colleagues the rationale for admission medications. Constructive feedback included the need for clearer directives regarding pre-workshop activities. This interprofessional education (IPE) activity presents a feasible, innovative approach to teaching pharmacy and medical students digital communication and collaboration using a simulated EMR. Overall, a majority of learners were satisfied with the learning experience and felt that the IPE activity achieved the learning outcomes and was relevant to practice.

Evaluating an Interprofessional Activity With the SPICE-R2

Interprofessional education is imperative for all health profession students including at the graduate level. An interprofessional activity was held for health professions graduate students including family nurse practitioner, nurse anesthesia, executive nurse leader, physical therapy, and occupational therapy. The Students’ Perceptions of Interprofessional Clinical Education Revised (SPICE-R2) instrument was used as a pre- and post-test measure for evaluation. Case studies were discussed within the framework of the social determinants of health in small group sessions via Zoom with a volunteer facilitator from one of the disciplines.

A pilot study evaluating the feasibility of assessing undergraduate pharmacy and medical students interprofessional collaboration during an online interprofessional education intervention about hospital discharge

BackgroundInterprofessional education (IPE) has been identified as a strategy towards improving competence at interprofessional working and collaboration within teams. Entrustable professional activities (EPAs) provide a framework for translating competencies into elements of clinical practice, some of which in healthcare are inherently interprofessional. However, it is challenging to reconcile that entrustment decisions about student competence in an interprofessional activity are made about an individual without considering the dynamics and tensions between interprofessional team members and the task itself. This can influence students’ development and demonstration of competence at interprofessional collaboration.MethodsIn this study, undergraduate medical and pharmacy students worked in pairs online (Zoom) to undertake the hospital discharge process (a professional activity reliant on interprofessional collaboration) for a simulated patient, producing a hospital discharge letter and completing a consultation with the simulated patient. The online sessions were recorded and interprofessional behaviours were assessed using a validated scale completed by an interprofessional assessment team. Students undertook this IPE intervention three times after receiving feedback and a period of reflection each time.ResultsEighteen students participated across the entire intervention and 27 one-hour online IPE sessions were completed and recorded. Students demonstrated statistically significant improvements in interprofessional behaviours across the three iterations (p < 0.05 for all the sessions). The discharge letter students produced also improved over the three sessions (p = 0.01). Students found the educational sessions useful and relevant.ConclusionThis online IPE intervention provided the students with an authentic opportunity to work collaboratively. At the end of each iteration, students received feedback about their work as a team and about the discharge letter, helping students to reflect and purposefully develop their performance. The IPE intervention with this assessment strategy is feasible and allows student development to be captured but has proved to be time and resource intensive.

Comparing Expectations: How Pharmacy Students View Physician Assistant and Medical Students.

The aim of this prospective, perception scale study was to evaluate pharmacy student expectations and perceptions of student medical providers before and after interprofessional education (IPE). Using pre- and postactivity surveys, the expectations and perceptions of 2 cohorts of third-year pharmacy students who worked with first-year physician assistant (PA) students and second-year medical (MD) students in an evidence-based, case-based IPE session were compared. Before engaging in the interprofessional activities, the pharmacy students' (N = 131) expectations were either similar for both student provider groups or greater for MD students. However, these expectations differed significantly from postactivity perceptions. After completion of the IPE experiences, when compared with MD students, PA students were perceived as having equal or greater knowledge of patient care (60.2 vs. 12%, P < .001), demonstrating equal or superior application of evidence-based practice (46.6 vs. 5.3%, P < .001), being equally or more collaborative (54.1 vs. 10.5%, P < .001), and being equally easy or easier to work with (69.9 vs. 10.5%, P < .001). The magnitude of shift in expectations and perceptions demonstrates the value of IPE and underscores the high caliber of PA educational standards.

Exploring the feasibility and effectiveness of an interprofessional healthcare simulation course project

Interprofessional (IP) education improves students for practice and should be embedded into curricula. This article explores the feasibility and perceived usefulness of a simulation-based interprofessional activity. This mixed methods study employed a post-survey design. Students created a simulation scenario highlighting their profession's roles then completed a survey regarding the activity's impact. Findings demonstrate this activity is a feasible and effective approach for interprofessional learning. Interprofessional simulations are one strategy to engage students and foster learning.

Curriculum and Competency Evaluation in Respiratory Therapy Entry-to-Practice Programs.

Essential skills for respiratory therapists extend beyond the traditional scope of therapy. Respiratory therapists are expected to communicate effectively, deliver bedside education, and practice within interprofessional teams. Respiratory therapy entry-to-practice program accreditation standards require evaluation of student competence in communication and interprofessional practice. This study aimed to determine if entry into practice programs include curriculum and competency evaluation for oral communication, patient education, telehealth, and interprofessional activities. The primary objective was to identify the curriculum and method of competency evaluation. The secondary objective was to compare degree programs. Directors of accredited respiratory therapy programs were invited to complete an anonymous survey with regard to degree program type, oral communication, patient education, learning strategies, telehealth, and interprofessional activities. Degree programs were classified as associate's of science 2 year, associate's of science < 2 year, or bachelor's of science. Of 370 invited programs, respondents in 136 programs (37%) completed the survey. Oral communication competence was evaluated by 82%. Patient education curriculum and competency evaluation were reported by 86% and 73%, respectively. Telehealth was rarely included or evaluated. Interprofessional activities were included by 74%, of whom 67% evaluated competency. Bachelor's of science programs were more likely to include a specific patient education course (P = .004), evaluate oral communication competency with unpaid preceptors (P = .036), and evaluate interprofessional competence through formal interprofessional programs (P = .005). Associate's degree 2-year programs used laboratory proficiency for patient education competency evaluation more often than other programs (P = .01). associate's of science < 2-year programs were more likely to include simulation experiences that involved motivational interviewing (P = .01). Differences exist among program types for curriculum and competency evaluation. Telehealth was rarely included or evaluated at any degree level. Programs should evaluate the need for enhanced patient education and telehealth instruction.

Interprofessional Collaboration Between Nurses and Physicians in the Perioperative Period

PurposeTo explore nurses' and physicians’ experiences of the six dimensions of interprofessional (IP) collaboration when using Goal-Directed Therapy (GDT), and to examine how existing protocols on GDT facilitate the six dimensions of IP collaboration. DesignA qualitative design using individual semi-structured interviews and participant observations. MethodsA secondary analysis of data from participant observation and semi-structured interviews with nurses (n= 23) and physicians (n=12) in three departments of anesthesiology. Observations and interviews were carried out from December 2016 to June 2017. A deductive, qualitative content analysis using the Inter-Professional Activity Classification as a categorization matrix was used to explore interprofessional collaboration as a barrier to implementation. This analysis was supplemented by a text analysis of two protocols. FindingsFour dimensions were identified to influence IP collaboration: commitment, roles and responsibilities, interdependence, and integration of work practices. Negative factors included hierarchical boundaries, traditional nurse-physician relationship, unclear responsibility, and lack of shared knowledge. Positive factors included physician involvement of nurses in decisions and bedside education. The text-analysis showed a lack of clear directions of specific action and responsibility. ConclusionsCommitment and roles and responsibilities were dominant aspects of interprofessional collaboration in this context, causing problems for enhanced collaboration. Lack of clear guidance in the protocols might detract nurses’ feelings of responsibility.

Teaching Interprofessional Collaboration Skills With Medical and Social Work Students Through Simulation

ABSTRACT An interprofessional pulmonary standardized patient simulation case was used for medical and social work students to work together using motivational interviewing. Following the case, 68 medical students and 20 social work students responded to open-ended questions eliciting reflection on the encounter. Using thematic text analysis, results indicated students learned how different professions approached healthcare issues and communicated to patients, the importance of collaboration, and the need to be patient-centered with an integrated care approach. This case met all four Interprofessional Education Collaborative Competencies. Our results suggest interprofessional standardized patient simulations can assist students in addressing substance use using a team-based approach. With barriers such as time, instructor availability, and limited funding for interprofessional activities, meaningful high-yield activities are essential.