Virtual patient training to improve reproductive health care for women with intellectual disabilities.

A multimedia virtual patient module, involving the case of a young woman with mild intellectual disabilities with a complaint of diffuse abdominal pain, was developed as a clinical training tool for students in health care professions. Primary objectives following use of the module included improved knowledge and reduced perception of difficulty in treating women's health patients with intellectual disabilities. The module was developed using an iterative, collaborative process of a core development team that included medical professionals, multimedia specialists, the parent of a child with intellectual disability, and a disability advocate. Over the course of the module, students were required to identify appropriate and effective clinician-patient interactions in addition to relevant medical and developmental concerns for this patient population. Pilot data from a sample of nursing, physician assistant, and medical students suggest that the module is an effective tool for both improving students' knowledge and reducing their perception of difficulty in providing care to women's health patients with intellectual disabilities.

Caring for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities: virtual patient instruction improves students' knowledge and comfort level.

Nurses play a vital role in providing health care to children with developmental disability (DD) throughout the United States. Unfortunately, most nurses continue to report that they receive little or no clinical education in the area of DDs. In response to this need, a core development team consisting of nurse practitioners and nursing faculty from three universities, one physician assistant faculty, parents of children with DD, and educational specialists developed two multimedia (virtual patient) pediatric instructional modules in CD-ROM format--one involving a child with Down syndrome, and the other involving an infant born at 26 weeks' gestation. Participants were required to make clinical decisions throughout the cases. The modules on CD were piloted with nursing students from three universities. Results of the effectiveness study demonstrated significant gains in knowledge and comfort level regarding the care of children with DD.