Evaluation of Inter-Professional Education (IPE) with medical, nursing and pharmacy students through a simulated IPL Educational Intervention.

INTRODUCTION: Inter-Professional Education (IPE) is becoming an integral part of many professional programmes throughout the United Kingdom, ensuring health professionals are competent to work as part of an inter-professional team upon entry into their profession. IPE has become a fundamental component of curriculum content in health and social care degrees. AIMS: Research aim - to evaluate a simulated IPE intervention. METHODS: A one day IPE intervention, "Evening On-Call" was run involving nursing and medical students and pre-registration pharmacists (student pharmacists in year 5 of training) in an on-call setting. This IPE incorporated manikin and actor patients in a simulated ward. During the intervention, the 3 groups of students are assessed under observation on their clinical, prioritisation and communication skills. Participants perceptions of this intervention were evaluated by completion of a questionnaire to capture their perceptions regarding the experience, the pre-IPL briefing and post-IPL feedback and perceived relevance of this training. Free text sections collected additional comments and a follow-up questionnaire was sent 6 months later. RESULTS: Initial questionnaire feedback was predominantly positive for each professional group. The majority perceived the simulated IPL had given them a greater understanding of other professionals' roles, had enhanced their professional confidence and would help them prioritise workload once qualified. The 6-months follow-up questionnaire supported the initial questionnaire findings. Some responses highlighted that participants believed the simulated IPL had helped them work more effectively with other healthcare professionals, communicate more effectively and better prioritise their workload. There may be some evidence of sustained self-reported effectiveness in teaching certain professional and clinical skills to participants using this type of simulated intervention.

How we equip undergraduates with prioritisation skills using simulated teaching scenarios.

BACKGROUND: Goldacre et al. [Goldacre MJ, Lambert T, Evans J, Turner G. 2003. PRHO views' on whether their experience at medical school prepared them well for their jobs: National questionnaire survey. BMJ 326 (1):1011-1012.] undertook a study which showed that 40% of undergraduates felt under prepared for work by their undergraduate curriculum. Illing et al. [Illing J et al. 2008. A GMC report: Submitted to GMC.] demonstrated that one of four key areas, for which they felt least prepared, was prioritisation of tasks in the clinical setting. AIM: To equip undergraduates about to become Foundation year 1 with the prioritisation skills along with others highlighted by Illing in a very real yet safe environment. METHODS: We devised a simulated teaching session 'an evening on call'. Each individual student had a 45 min session, held on mock wards where they were given a handover task list, and like a de facto on call would be paged by the wards at varying intervals. Tasks ranged from prescribing night sedation, interpretation of ECG and blood results to dealing with acute gastrointestinal bleeds. At the end of the session each student was given feedback on their prioritisation and patient management by an experienced medic. RESULTS: Feedback from students rate this as one of the best ways to learn as they have responsibility for patients in a very safe yet real environment. They felt better prepared for the job they were about to do. CONCLUSION: Simulated teaching is a relatively easy yet effective way to teach prioritisation and other skills. We hope that our method is self-explanatory and could be adapted for other teaching groups or material.