What participants learn, with, from and about each other during inter-professional education encounters: A qualitative analysis

Jill Sanko; Mary Mckay; Ilya Shekhter; Ivette Motola; David J Birnbach

doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2020.104386

What participants learn, with, from and about each other during inter-professional education encounters: A qualitative analysis

Nurse Educ Today. 2020 Mar 5:88:104386. doi: 10.1016/j.nedt.2020.104386. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Jill Sanko¹, Mary Mckay², Ilya Shekhter³, Ivette Motola⁴, David J Birnbach⁵

Affiliations

¹ University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies, 5030 Brunson Drive, Coral Gables, FL 33146, United States of America. Electronic address: j.sanko@miami.edu.
² University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies, 5030 Brunson Drive, Coral Gables, FL 33146, United States of America. Electronic address: mmckay@miami.edu.
³ University of Miami, Jackson Memorial Hospital Center for Patient Safety, 1140 NW 16(th) Street, Miami, FL 33136, United States of America. Electronic address: I.shekhter@med.miami.edu.
⁴ Gordon Center for Research in Medical Education, 1120 NW 14th Street, Miami, FL 33136, United States of America. Electronic address: imotola@med.miami.edu.
⁵ University of Miami, Jackson Memorial Hospital Center for Patient Safety, 1140 NW 16(th) Street, Miami, FL 33136, United States of America. Electronic address: dbirnbach@med.miami.edui.

PMID: 32182493
DOI: 10.1016/j.nedt.2020.104386

Abstract

Background: Safe healthcare requires teamwork and collaboration. To meet the needs of healthcare organizations and professionals, inter-professional education, is no longer an optional educational trend but rather a mandate of accrediting health education agencies.

Objective: In an effort to better understand the impact of inter- professional educational activities, this study sought to explore via qualitative methods what nursing and medical students learn with, from, and about one another during a week - long simulation-based inter-profession education course.

Design: A convenience sample of post-course survey responses from students participating in a week-long, inter-professional, simulation-based patient safety course was used to longitudinally explore what participants learn with, from, and about each other.

Settings: The setting for this study was a research university located in the southeast United States.

Participants: The participants included a total of 272 second semester accelerated option Bachelor of Nursing students and 599 medical students entering the 3rd year of their program that participated in an annual patient safety course. The study analyzed responses of students to questions in a post-course survey regarding educational outcomes while learning with students from a different profession.

Results: In the responses from 871 students collected over four years, the following key themes emerged. Students: 1) articulated learning the importance of contributions of other professions to the healthcare team, 2) expressed an appreciation for areas where their colleagues' training was superior to their own; and 3) identified deficiencies in their own knowledge and skill sets.

Conclusion: The findings of this study provide a basis for developing more specific curricular content as part of inter-professional education endeavors to strengthen constructive views of healthcare professions, foster a more collaborative shared mental model, and to correct perceived misconceptions.