Working Together: Addressing Cultural Diversity, Patient Safety, and Quality Care Through an Interprofessional Health Care Course.

An interprofessional course was designed to augment the integration of practice and education in a large, public northeastern university. The schools of medicine, nursing, and social work, along with the associated hospital's quality assurance team, worked together to design curricula aimed at improving quality of care, communication, collaboration, and teamwork. Development and implementation of the elective course resulted in extended discussions among the schools, complementing the university's overall initiative to develop a formal interprofessional educational program. Evaluations indicated that participants developed a greater appreciation for the roles of fellow health care professionals and a desire to better utilize their services.

Effectiveness of an interprofessional patient safety team-based learning simulation experience on healthcare professional trainees.

BACKGROUND: Although the American Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) mandates formal education in patient safety, there is a lack of standardized educational practice on how to conduct patient safety training. Traditionally, patient safety is taught utilizing instructional strategies that promote passive learning such as self-directed online learning modules or didactic lectures that result in suboptimal learning and satisfaction. METHODS: During the summer of 2015, 76 trainees consisting of internal medicine interns and senior-level nursing students participated in an interactive patient safety workshop that used a flipped classroom approach integrating team based learning (TBL) and interprofessional simulated application exercises. RESULTS: Workshop trainees demonstrated an increase in knowledge specifically related to patient safety core concepts on the Team Readiness Assurance Test (TRAT) compared to the Individual Readiness Assurance Test (IRAT) (p = 0.001). Completion rates on the simulation application exercises checklists were high except for a few critical action items such as hand-washing, identifying barriers to care, and making efforts to clarify code status with patient. The Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) subscale scores for Teamwork and Collaboration and Professional Identity were higher on the post-workshop survey compared to the pre-workshop survey, however only the difference in the Positive Professional Identity subscale was statistically significant (p = 0.03). A majority (90%) of the trainees either agreed that the safety concepts they learned would likely improve the quality of care they provide to future patients. CONCLUSIONS: This novel approach to safety training expanded teaching outside of the classroom and integrated simulation and engagement in error reduction strategies. Next steps include direct observation of trainees in the clinical setting for team-based competency when it comes to patient safety and recognition of system errors.

Teaching Patient Safety Using an Interprofessional Team-Based Learning Simulation Model in Residency Training.

INTRODUCTION: Teaching and learning patient safety require demonstration of competencies such as teamwork, communication skills, and recognition of systems error. This patient safety TBL simulation-training program was developed to fulfill core patient safety objectives outlined by the ACGME and ACGME Clinical Learning Environment Review Program. The goal of the program is to enhance patient safety and quality care concepts and facilitate hands-on teamwork skills and core attitudes towards patient safety. This program served as a mandatory part of the residency core curriculum. METHODS: It was delivered as a 3-hour workshop session during medicine resident orientation. The workshop included an introductory presentation, one TBL activity, and three 1-hour interprofessional simulated application cases using either high-fidelity mannequins or standardized patients. Following each application case activity, trainees participated in a postcase scenario debriefing moderated by faculty facilitators. RESULTS: A total of 76 trainees participated, and 20 interprofessional teams were created. An independent-samples t test revealed that the Group Readiness Assurance Test scores were significantly higher than the Individual Readiness Assurance Test scores. Although the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Survey's Teamwork and Professional Identity subscale scores were higher postworkshop compared to preworkshop, the differences were not statistically significant. Over 90% of the participants agreed that the safety concepts they learned would likely improve the quality of care they provide to future patients. DISCUSSION: A simulation model centered on an interprofessional team can be used as an important training technique to teach health care professionals realistic, hands-on principles of patient safety.