Nursing and medical students’ assessment of teamworking and communication during an interprofessional simulation education (IPSE) collaboration

Research output: Contribution to specialist publicationArticle

Abstract

Background, Aim and Objectives:
There is increasing recognition of the importance of interprofessional teamwork for enhancing patient care (1) . Undergraduate programmes of education in medicine and nursing are fundamental to developing these skills, and IPSE has been found to be an effective way of improving decision-making, team cohesiveness and collaboration (2)

Two Higher Education Institutions in the Northeast of England collaborated on an IPSE event involving 340 final year nursing and medical students. Through peer assessment, this research aimed to explore the effectiveness of IPSE in improving teamwork and enhancing communication.

Method
During a five-day IPSE event in February 2022, each student rotated through four simulated scenarios of acutely deteriorating patients. The students were randomly selected to one of four groups consisting of ~4-6 nursing and 1-2 medical students. Within each scenario 2 nurses and 1 doctor actively participated while the remaining group members observed via live video feed. Across the five days 140 students (41%) completed an amended version of the Performance Assessment for Communication and Teamwork (PACT) novice observer form (3) to rate team functioning on a Likert scale from 1 -5 on five skills domains: Team Structure, Leadership, Situation Monitoring, Mutual Support and Communication.

Pooled individual ratings and scores between professional groups (nursing and medical) were used to perform repeated measure ANOVAs to explore the impact of repeated scenarios.

Results:
Pooled individual ratings: A statistically significant progressive increase was found in the five teamworking elements: Team Structure (F = 9.97, p < .001), Leadership (F = 6.71, p = < .001), Situation Monitoring (F = 3.56, p = .020), Mutual Support (F = 9.67, p= < .001), Communication (F = 9.85, p =
Professional Group (medical and nursing) ratings: A statistically significant progressive increase was also found: Team Structure (F = 9.97, p = < .001), Leadership (F = 6.71, p = < .001), Situation Monitoring (F = 9.67, p = < .001), Mutual Support ( F = 9.97, P = < .001), Communication (F = 9.85, p = < .001).

Conclusion:
Using peer assessment to explore team working during IPSE, this study demonstrates a significant increase in scores in the five skills domains. The results suggest that incorporating IPSE into undergraduate medical and nursing curriculums can be an effective way for students to develop and enhance teamworking and communication which is a key component of safe and effective clinical practice and patient care.
Original languageEnglish
PagesA74-A74
Number of pages1
Volume2
No.Supplement 1
Specialist publicationInternational Journal of Healthcare Simulation
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Nov 2022

Keywords

  • nurse
  • simulation
  • interprofessional
  • student
  • Medical

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