2006

Trip to Far West NSW to find clinical placements
2007




Established NSW Elective Nursing Unit
NRSG206 Aboriginal Health
Joint venture between ACU, North Sydney & The
University of Sydney, Department of Rural Health
(Broken Hill Campus)
Provides an opportunity for students to engage
in primary health care in a rural/remote
Indigenous community
Four week field trip to the Far West of NSW

To implement and evaluate interprofessional learning in
nursing and exercise science students during their
Indigenous community field experience in Broken Hill &
Far West of NSW

The students will have greater shared understanding of
the roles and responsibilities of each member of the
team in providing health promotion activities among the
Indigenous community and improve team function that
could lead to more harmonious workplace relationships




a method to enhance the ability of health professionals
to learn to work together
an approach to educating and training students &
practitioners from different health professionals to work
in a collaborative manner in providing client care
multidisciplinary and interprofessional working is also
currently a priority in healthcare policy
increasingly adopted in North America, Scandinavian
countries and Australia

become actively engaged & develop ownership in the
learning process

integrate previous knowledge & experiences with new
problems

become more efficient at applying theory to practice
concerns, enhance their problem-solving skills

learn approaches that they can use throughout as
process for life - long learning
(Gonzales, Gangluff, & Eaton, 2004)

Interprofessionals working together were found to be
effective in empowering the residents of a community to
identify their needs & take action to meet their needs
(Lax & Galvin, 2002)

In the United Kingdom, distinctive features of
explanations in nurses’ and doctors’ consultations with
patients were clearly identified. Nurses gave clear
explanations of patients’ responsibility & behaviour
while doctors gave explanations of biomedical
interventions
(Collins, 2005).
•
In Canada, promoting cultural competence in health care
was also examined as a result of IPL showed that the
pedagogical principles of IPL such as openness, mutual
respect, inclusiveness, responsiveness & understanding
one’s roles were fundamental to promoting cultural
awareness among health professionals
(Purden, 2005)
2008
•
Negotiation with the Broken Hill Department of Rural
Health, University of Sydney
•
Staff changes
•
Teaching semester clashes with Nursing & Exercise
Science
Project blocked
2009
•

Collaboration with School of Exercise Science – School
Principals in Broken Hill
Project approved
2009
•
IPL – Active After-School Communities Program
•
Venue of IPL – primary schools in the Far West of NSW
•
Nursing students’ placement – 4 weeks (August to
September)
•
Exercise Science students’ placement – 1 week
(September)
•
Nursing & Exercise Science students – cultural awareness
workshop provided by Broken Hill Department of Rural
Health




Australian Government Initiative that provides primary
school children with access to free, sport & other
structured physical activity programs in the after-school
time slot of 3.00pm to 5.30pm
Aims to engage inactive children in sport & other
structured physical activities through a positive & fun
experience, develop a love of sport that inspires them to
join a local sporting club
Managed by The Australian Sports Commission - locally
based regional coordinators
Approximately 150 000 children participate in the AASC
program, which is run in up to 3250 schools & after school
care centres across every state and territory
(http://www.ausport.gov.au/)

Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS)
Questionnaire

ACU Field Experience Evaluation

Participant Reflective Journal

Face to Face Interviews of participants
Only few students (n=6) were involved in the IPL due:

to difficulty on arranging suitable dates

difficulty in negotiating with school principals
Comments from questionnaire:
‘Enjoyed shared experience’
‘Could see the link between the two professions’
‘Didn’t get to see the nurses in action’
‘Didn’t know nurses did health promotion’
‘Was great to mix and learn from another discipline’