P3 Enhancing Interprofessional Collaboration Among Nursing and Respiratory Therapy students through Curricular Integration of Standardized Patient Experiences: Lessons Learned During COVID

Presenters

Jennifer Hart, Nursing
Kimberly Allen, Nursing

Abstract

To meet the complex needs of patients in our dynamic healthcare system, nurses must be full partners on the health care team and therefore need to practice and refine skills in interprofessional collaboration (IOM, 2015, p. 2). Students in healthcare disciplines routinely identify the need for increased face-to-face collaborative experiences; however, they are often uncomfortable sharing their unique perspective with members of the interprofessional team. More opportunities are needed to develop interprofessional collaboration competencies, and the use of standardized patient experiences (SPEs) can be an effective pedagogical strategy to provide such opportunity (MacLean, et al. 2017). A web-based toolkit with an integrated SPE was developed to enhance interprofessional collaboration using an end-of- life scenario. The toolkit included learning objectives, pre-and post-simulation assignments which encouraged critique and refinement of new skills, a video vignette utilizing standardized patients, and a face-to-face SPE involving other members of the healthcare team. This innovative approach incorporated several components to engage students during their SPE, and feedback was obtained for process improvement. Following implementation with senior nursing students, feedback identified the benefits of utilizing the toolkit earlier in the curriculum and including students from other healthcare disciplines. In the most recent offering this spring, respiratory therapy students were included in the SPE to determine if the experience would be as valuable as nursing students identified. Feedback supported this change with suggestions to include social work students. With the last-minute change to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, SPEs were converted to virtual, telehealth meetings. Although students from both programs noted they would prefer to have the SPE face-to-face, the virtual format was considered a highly effective alternative that brought the reality of COVID-19 into the scenario. Despite constraints brought on by COVID-19, nursing and respiratory therapy students are gaining irreplaceable hands-on experience enhancing interprofessional collaboration competencies.

Pre-Recorded Session

Discussion

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