Faculty attitudes about interprofessional education.

BACKGROUND: Interprofessional education (IPE) is an important component to training health care professionals. Research is limited in exploring the attitudes that faculty hold regarding IPE and what barriers they perceive to participating in IPE. The purpose of this study was to identify faculty attitudes about IPE and to identify barriers to participating in campus-wide IPE activities. METHODS: A locally used questionnaire called the Nebraska Interprofessional Education Attitudes Scale (NIPEAS) was used to assess attitudes related to interprofessional collaboration. Questions regarding perceived barriers were included at the end of the questionnaire. Descriptive and non-parametric statistics were used to analyze the results in aggregate as well as by college. In addition, open-ended questions were analyzed using an immersion/crystallization framework to identify themes. RESULTS: The results showed that faculty had positive attitudes of IPE, indicating that is not a barrier to participating in IPE activities. Most common barriers to participation were scheduling conflicts (x24,285=19.17, p=0.001), lack of department support (x24,285=10.09, p=0.039), and lack of awareness of events (x24,285=26.38, p=0.000). Narrative comments corroborated that scheduling conflicts are an issue because of other priorities. Those who commented also added to the list of barriers, including relevance of the activities, location, and prior negative experiences. DISCUSSION: With faculty attitudes being positive, the exploration of faculty's perceived barriers to IPE was considered even more important. Identifying these barriers will allow us to modify our IPE activities from large, campus-wide events to smaller activities that are longitudinal in nature, embedded within current curriculum and involving more authentic experiences.

Implementing the awakening and breathing coordination, delirium monitoring/management, and early exercise/mobility bundle into everyday care: opportunities, challenges, and lessons learned for implementing the ICU Pain, Agitation, and Delirium Guidelines.

OBJECTIVE: The awakening and breathing coordination, delirium monitoring/management, and early exercise/mobility bundle is an evidence-based interprofessional multicomponent strategy for minimizing sedative exposure, reducing duration of mechanical ventilation, and managing ICU-acquired delirium and weakness. The purpose of this study was to identify facilitators and barriers to awakening and breathing coordination, delirium monitoring/management, and early exercise/mobility bundle adoption and to evaluate the extent to which bundle implementation was effective, sustainable, and conducive to dissemination. DESIGN: Prospective, before-after, mixed-methods study. SETTING: Five adult ICUs, one step-down unit, and a special care unit located in a 624-bed academic medical center SUBJECTS: : Interprofessional ICU team members at participating institution. INTERVENTIONS AND MEASUREMENTS: In collaboration with the participating institution, we developed, implemented, and refined an awakening and breathing coordination, delirium monitoring/management, and early exercise/mobility bundle policy. Over the course of an 18-month period, all ICU team members were offered the opportunity to participate in numerous multimodal educational efforts. Three focus group sessions, three online surveys, and one educational evaluation were administered in an attempt to identify facilitators and barriers to bundle adoption. MAIN RESULTS: Factors believed to facilitate bundle implementation included: 1) the performance of daily, interdisciplinary, rounds; 2) engagement of key implementation leaders; 3) sustained and diverse educational efforts; and 4) the bundle's quality and strength. Barriers identified included: 1) intervention-related issues (e.g., timing of trials, fear of adverse events), 2) communication and care coordination challenges, 3) knowledge deficits, 4) workload concerns, and 5) documentation burden. Despite these challenges, participants believed implementation ultimately benefited patients, improved interdisciplinary communication, and empowered nurses and other ICU team members. CONCLUSIONS: In this study of the implementation of the awakening and breathing coordination, delirium monitoring/management, and early exercise/mobility bundle in a tertiary care setting, clear factors were identified that both advanced and impeded adoption of this complex intervention that requires interprofessional education, coordination, and cooperation. Focusing on these factors preemptively should enable a more effective and lasting implementation of the bundle and better care for critically ill patients. Lessons learned from this study will also help healthcare providers optimize implementation of the recent ICU pain, agitation, and delirium guidelines, which has many similarities but also some important differences as compared with the awakening and breathing coordination, delirium monitoring/management, and early exercise/mobility bundle.

Research support in doctoral-granting schools of nursing: a decade later.

Many nursing schools invest resources in offices to support research efforts and to strengthen research programs for external funding. This article will describe the resources available for research support in schools of nursing with doctoral degree-granting programs. Using a descriptive survey design, invitations and links to the online survey were sent to deans of nursing schools offering doctoral degrees as identified by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. Response rate was 70.6% (120/170 eligible institutions), and 75% had a research office. Presence of a research office was associated with being in an academic health sciences center, being located in a public institution, and offering a doctor of philosophy (PhD) program. In 2009-2010, the average budget for the research offices was $390,000. Research offices were staffed by a director (88.6%), a grant administrator (78%), a statistician (74%), and a clerical staff (58.6%) and provided an array of services including grant support, scholarly support, and faculty development services. Nursing schools provided various support services for research productivity. Of those schools reporting that they had a research office, 59% had received National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding in the past year. Greater NIH funding was associated with those research offices employing more staff and offices existing for longer periods.

Information technology as a tool to facilitate the academic accreditation process.

The site visit is a crucial component of the academic accreditation process. Many nursing education programs have adopted electronic processes for document management and course delivery. In this article, the authors describe reasons for using an electronic resource room, changes made in document management systems, methods to provide electronic documentation access to site evaluators, and ways to link decisions directly to supporting evidence. Significant advantages were realized from the electronic resource room.