Interprofessional Education
“When students from two or more professions learn
about, from and with each other to enable effective
collaboration and improved health outcomes. (WHO,
2010)
INITIAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE
SIMULATION PROJECT
DENTAL
HYGIENE
STANDARD
2-19:
“Graduates must be competent in interpersonal
and communication skills to effectively interact
with diverse population groups and other
members of the health care team.”
Core Competencies for
Interprofessional Collaborative Practice
Competency Domains:
– Values/Ethics for Interprofessional Practice
– Roles/Responsibilities
– Interprofessional Communication
– Teams and Teamwork
Health Professions
Model for Building Professional and
Interprofessional Teamwork Programs
• Policy and Purpose
• Visual Representation
Examples of Implementation
Health Professions and University
of Illinois Medical Students
 Simulation involving nursing students, respiratory therapy
students and medical students
 Clinical preceptors often took the lead in communicating
patient assessment and implementation of orders.
 The simulation allowed RN, RT and MD students to
practice confident communication within the health care
team.
“I always assumed that the MD knew about everything we
can do. Now I know that I must know the information well
enough to sell it to the doctor”
Dental Hygiene & Nursing
• Collaborative patient education in which
the nursing and dental hygiene student
addressed the medical and dental history
from the perspective of their profession.
– Greater knowledge of each professional’s role
– Discovery of the link of oral health and
overall medical status.
– Students felt that it needed to be more
structured with faculty mediators or leaders.
Occupational Therapy Assistant, Medical
Office Assistant, Certified Nurse Assistant
and Nursing
• Simulation of a patient with a cerebral
vascular injury after a fall. The simulation
follows the patient from the time of the fall
until discharge and home therapy visits.
– Discovered how roles overlapped during patient
care.
– Defined scope of practice
– Developed a collaborative care plan
“The likenesses of different disciplines should naturally
be a strong team unit but I discovered that isn’t always
the case.”
Nursing, Surgical Technology, Emergency
Medical Services, Respiratory Therapy,
Certified Nurse Assistant
• Obstetric patient delivers a preterm infant.
Infant is in respiratory distress and in
NICU. Mom develops a post partum
hemorrhage and needs surgery and blood
products and is admitted to ICU.
– Delivering patient care while discovering and
working through the perceived hierarchy of
the health care team.
OB Simulation Phase II
• Students evaluated their performance
after the simulation
• A more advanced level of care will be
implemented for Phase II.
What Have We Learned?
• Students are novices and need the
direction and mediation of faculty.
• Students from different disciplines are not
comfortable working with each other.
• Students realize the scope of practice of
other health professions.
• Students have found projects to be
extremely valuable
Summary
• Communication was the most difficult
aspect of each of the simulations.
– Reinforced the need for future projects of
interdisciplinary education.
– Even as students were becoming proficient
with their clinical skills, their ability to
communicate with other members of the
health care team was a challenge.