An Interprofessional Education Simulation Workshop: Health Professions Learning Palliative Care Communication.

BACKGROUND: Patients with life-limiting illnesses need health professionals who can communicate with each other, as well as with patients and family members. Nursing faculty teach these skills in a variety of formats and, increasingly, via simulation experiences. METHOD: This pilot study aimed to compare a group of interprofessional health professions students' (N = 73) self-reported level of confidence in communication, explore behavior change and professional identity, and identify areas for future interprofessional education. Students participated in a simulated team meeting with a standardized family member of an older adult patient hospitalized with an acute aspiration pneumonia and a chronic, progressive illness. RESULTS: Postworkshop, students rated themselves as significantly more confident in interprofessional and palliative care communication (p ⩽ .001) than preworkshop, identified important areas of behavior change and professional identity, and provided faculty with ideas for future simulation workshops. CONCLUSION: Additional research is needed regarding longitudinal curricular efforts and direct patient care outcomes. [J Nurs Educ. 2018;57(8):493-497.].

Faculty facilitators' and standardized family members (SFMs) perceptions of student teamwork during an interprofessional education simulation workshop.

Standardized patients can be trained to portray standardized family members (SFMs) for interprofessional education (IPE) initiatives to maximize student learning. To date, studies of IPE often focus on student learning outcomes rather than on the feedback and perspectives of SFMs and faculty facilitators (FFs), The purpose of our study was to examine SFMs' and FFs' perspectives immediately after participating in an IPE workshop. SFMs and FFs completed a semi-structured questionnaire consisting of open-ended questions to identify positive and challenging aspects of interactions with health professions students during an IPE workshop. A directed content analysis approach was used to assess written feedback (N = 29) from SFMs and FFs. Study findings highlight many similar themes between SFMs and FFs as well as minor differences regarding recognition of emotion and communication transitions. SFMs and FFs both agreed, however, that these are areas for further development by students to improve communication. Our study adds insight into SFMs' and FFs' feedback immediately after an IPE workshop.

Toward Safer Transitions: A Curriculum to Teach and Assess Hospital-to-Hospice Handoffs.

CONTEXT: Patient handoffs are an increasingly emphasized skill in medical and nursing education, and handoff education is required by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Traditional handoff tools lack content that is unique to hospice and palliative medicine. OBJECTIVES: The objective of the study was to develop a comprehensive curriculum to teach and assess patient handoffs in hospice and palliative medicine fellowships. METHODS: Eight hospice physicians, nurse practitioners, and nurses were interviewed to determine core content for a hospital-to-hospice handoff. This content was used to create a verbal handoff template and direct observation assessment tool, which were reviewed by the same hospice providers for content validity. The handoff template was taught to two groups of palliative medicine fellows and one group of internal medicine residents using an interactive didactic and role play, and feedback was obtained to further refine the curriculum. RESULTS: After refinement, the complete handoff curriculum (verbal handoff template, didactic with role play, assessment by faculty using direct observation tool) was successfully integrated into a hospice and palliative medicine fellowship, satisfying Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education requirements related to transitions in care. CONCLUSION: The hospital-to-hospice handoff is a unique opportunity to teach patient safety in a palliative medicine context.