Student Perceptions of an Interprofessional Short Course Designed to Increase Awareness of Human Trafficking.

Human trafficking is a global problem with significant impacts on victims' physical and emotional health. Many health care professionals lack human trafficking knowledge, leading to missed opportunities for intervention. This cross-sectional study used evaluation data from a short course on human trafficking to evaluate the course's perceived impact on students. Closed-ended questions were analyzed descriptively while open-ended questions were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. A total of 241 students across eight professions/disciplines completed the evaluation. The vast majority indicated course content was valuable, applicable to their future practice, and recognized interprofessional teamwork is needed to address human trafficking. Despite course effectiveness, there remains a need to continue expanding interprofessional engagement and examining the longitudinal impact of this educational effort.

A Synchronous Interprofessional Patient Safety Simulation Integrating Distance Health Professions Students.

BACKGROUND: Increasing rates of medical errors necessitate incorporation of patient safety education for health professions students. Institutions must address the needs of both campus- and distance-based learners to meet interprofessional education (IPE) accreditation requirements. The purpose of this project was to evaluate a synchronous interprofessional patient safety simulation to train students on interprofessional teamwork and communication through recognition of patient safety and medical hazards. METHOD: Students from health care professions participated in a Haunted Hospital/Heartbreak Hospital patient hazard/medical error simulation. A total of 201 students in 41 teams, both campus and distance, participated over three semesters. RESULTS: Mean Student Perceptions of Interprofessional Clinical Education-Revised (SPICE-R) scores significantly improved from 44.81 ± 3.59 to 47.08 ± 3.31 (p < .0001). Qualitative responses indicated that students appreciated working with other health care students through collaborative practice and recognized the importance of discipline-specific expertise. CONCLUSION: This simulation provided campus and distance learners with a collaboration opportunity that improved their perceptions of IPE. [J Nurs Educ. 2019;58(10):577-582.].

The development of an instrument to evaluate interprofessional student team competency.

Healthcare institutions, accreditation agencies for higher learning, and organizations such as the National Academy of Medicine in the United States, support interprofessional education (IPE) opportunities. However, incorporating IPE opportunities into academic settings remains difficult. One challenge is assessing IPE learning and practice outcomes, especially at the level of student performance to ensure graduates are "collaboration-ready". The Creighton-Interprofessional Collaborative Evaluation (C-ICE) instrument was developed to address the need for a measurement tool for interprofessional student team performance. Four interprofessional competency domains provide the framework for the C-ICE instrument. Twenty-six items were identified as essential to include in the C-ICE instrument. This instrument was found to be both a reliable and a valid instrument to measure interprofessional interactions of student teams. Inter-rater reliability as measured by Krippendorff's nominal alpha (nKALPHA) ranged from .558 to .887; with four of the five independent assessments achieving nKALPHA greater than or equal to 0.796. The findings indicated that the instrument is understandable (Gwet's alpha coefficient (gAC) 0.63), comprehensive (gAC = 0.62), useful and applicable (gAC = 0.54) in a variety of educational settings. The C-ICE instrument provides educators a comprehensive evaluation tool for assessing student team behaviors, skills, and performance.

Reframing our pursuit of life balance.

During our time in the 2013 Academic Leadership Fellows Program, we explored what it takes to achieve life balance through a framework presented in a Harvard Business Review article. In this Statement, we describe 5 different areas from the article that provide infrastructure for reflecting on how we have learned to approach life balance in academia. We also provide brief messages based on this reading and others to help academics' pursuit of life balance.

An advanced pharmacy practice experience in community engagement.

OBJECTIVE: To implement a 5-week advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) in community engagement and assess the impact of the APPE on students' confidence and ability to provide community-based services. DESIGN: Working with community partners, students provided medication reconciliation, attended interprofessional healthcare meetings, developed health-promotion activities, and conducted medication-therapy reviews. ASSESSMENT: Responses to pre- and post-APPE 10-item surveys, preceptor and practice-experience evaluations, and the documented number of pharmacy student recommendations were determined. CONCLUSION: This APPE provides students opportunities in nontraditional community settings to increase their confidence and enhance their skills in health-promotion activities, medication-therapy management, and interprofessional care of patients, all of which are essential to the practice of pharmacy.

Prevalence, treatment, and control of hypertension in residents of skilled nursing facilities.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence, treatment, and control of hypertension (HTN) in elderly residents of skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). To determine variables that may influence the treatment and control of HTN in residents of SNFs. DESIGN: Concurrent medical record review of SNF residents who had resided at a facility for a minimum of 30 days. SETTING: Twelve SNFs in western Iowa and eastern Nebraska. PARTICIPANTS: All residents studied were living in one of the 12 SNFs, N=966. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Data collected from each medical record included: demographic characteristics, past medical history, blood pressure (BP) taken over the preceding 30 days, and antihypertensive medications and their doses. The BP reading used to define BP control, or lack thereof, was based on the last recorded BP measurement in the medical record. RESULTS: The total percentage of patients with HTN was 77%. Of those with HTN, 71% had controlled BP and 29% had uncontrolled BP. The average number of antihypertensive drugs used was not significantly different between patients with controlled and uncontrolled BP. Multivariate analysis failed to identify any patient demographic characteristic or comorbidity that correlated with a higher rate of BP control. The number of antihypertensive drugs administered correlated significantly with BP control. The specific type of antihypertensive drug or drug combination did not correlate with BP control. Patients with controlled BP were significantly more likely to be receiving antihypertensive therapy at higher doses than patients with uncontrolled BP.

Measuring clinical outcomes of animal-assisted therapy: impact on resident medication usage.

OBJECTIVE: To measure changes in medication usage of as-needed, psychoactive medications and other select as-needed medication usage as a result of a therapy dog residing in the rehabilitation facility. Additional measures are participants' thoughts and feelings on quality-of-life factors. DESIGN: One group, pretest, post-test. SETTING: Residential rehabilitation facility. PARTICIPANTS: Convenience sample, N = 58 residents living at the facility. INTERVENTION: A certified, trained therapy dog. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Changes in as-needed medication usage for the following categories: analgesics, psychoactive medications, and laxatives, as well as changes in vital sign measurements of blood pressure, pulse, respiration rate, and body weight. Additionally, changes in the residents' perception of quality-of-life factors. RESULTS: One of the three monitored drug classes, analgesia, revealed a decrease in medication usage (mean = 2.6, standard deviation [SD] +/- 6.90, P = 0.017), and one of four monitored vital signs, pulse, showed a decrease (mean = 5.8, SD +/-7.39, P = 0.000) in study participants exposed to the therapy dog. Positive changes were reported in study participants' quality of life. CONCLUSION: The benefits to human welfare as a result of the presence of a therapy dog have the potential to decrease medication usage for certain conditions in long-term care patients as well as decrease costs. Pharmacist involvement in animal-assisted therapy has the potential to make unique and measurable improvements to best patient care.

Osteoporosis in long-term care residents with multiple sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the fracture risk of long-term care residents with multiple sclerosis (MS) using ultrasound heel-scan technology and identification of risk factors and areas where intervention by a pharmacist might affect patient outcomes. DESIGN: Bilateral-heel scans were performed on all patients who consented to take part in the study. A retrospective review of each subject's medical records was performed to identify known risk factors for osteoporosis. SETTING: A long-term care facility in Omaha, Nebraska. PARTICIPANTS: All patients with a primary diagnosis of MS residing at the facility were eligible for participation. Of 11 patients identified, 10 consented to participate. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: T-scores of the right and left heel as determined by ultrasound-heel scan were used to determine if study participants met criteria for osteopenia or osteoporosis as set forth by the World Health Organization. CONCLUSION: Patients in our population who have MS are at high risk for fracture. There are several areas in which pharmacists can intervene to prevent fracture and improve patient outcomes, including administration of heel scans for persons believed to be at risk, recommendation of over-the-counter supplements, and education of both patients and health care practitioners.