Insights Into Learning Among Physical Therapy, Medical, and Nursing Students Following a Simulation-Based, Interprofessional Patient Safety Course.

As the need for a strong interdisciplinary approach in the delivery of healthcare services becomes increasingly vital, interprofessional education (IPE) is essential to equip healthcare professionals of the future to deliver better care. IPE encounters using simulation-based education can be a powerful tool in inculcating pre-professional students with foundational tools for successful interprofessional work. This qualitative study explores the learning that occurs during IPE encounters that include nursing, physical therapy, and medical students. The results of this work highlight how important IPE encounters are in uncovering and changing cross-disciplinary notions about knowledge, skills, role, and team contributions. Specifically, our analysis demonstrated that there are common misunderstandings about contemporary roles, knowledge, and skills of physical therapists among both nursing and medical students that can be corrected in IPE encounters. Results also demonstrated that careful planning can bolster opinions of the value of activities embedded as part of a larger course. Moreover, planning and attention to the specific educational needs of all students may prevent any group feeling that their educational needs were not fully met across all disciplines. The findings support the consideration that IPE can be an important method to instill foundational interprofessional knowledge, skills, and attitudes to promote a foundation from which to establish strong career-long interprofessional collaborations. It is important to lay foundational interprofessional skills and appreciation of the 'other' in pre-licensure curricula, but these efforts should not be limited to only pre-licensure programs and need also to be included as part of on-going professional development education, especially as healthcare education, roles, and responsibilities evolve.

Effect of physical therapy on wound healing and quality of life in patients with venous leg ulcers: a systematic review.

IMPORTANCE: Patients with venous leg ulcers (VLUs) have calf muscle pump dysfunction, which is associated with reduced ankle range of motion (ROM). Physical therapy or exercise that targets ankle joint mobility may lead to improvement in calf muscle pump function and subsequent healing. However, little is known regarding the effect of physical therapy or exercise on healing and quality of life (QOL), which is impaired in patients with VLUs. OBJECTIVES: To systematically review the current literature on the effect of physical therapy on healing and QOL outcomes in patients with VLUs and to identify research gaps that warrant further investigation. EVIDENCE REVIEW: PubMed (MEDLINE), CINAHL, and Cochrane databases were searched in April 2014. FINDINGS: We found 10 articles, consisting of randomized clinical trials and single-arm cohort studies with small sample sizes, that used physical therapy or exercise for patients with open or healed VLUs. Although there is evidence that exercise strengthens the calf muscle pump and improves ankle ROM, few studies have investigated the effect of these interventions on QOL and healing, and few involved the supervision of a physical therapist. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The lack of evidence and randomized clinical trials suggests the need for further investigation on physical therapy-oriented exercise on wound healing and QOL. In addition, more studies are needed to investigate sustainability of the increased ankle ROM after physical therapy has ended or if VLU reoccurrences are prevented.