Assessing the impact of a high-fidelity simulated interprofessional clinical experience on the attitudes, collaboration and teamwork in health sciences students: a pilot study.

Abstract

There is limited research that supports the use of high fidelity human patient simulation (HF-SICE) as a teaching learning approach to enhance interprofessional collaboration and teamwork in nursing, medicine and pharmacy students. The purpose of this quasi-experimental descriptive study was to assess the impact of participation in one HF-SICE on students’ attitudes towards interprofessional education (IPE) and teamwork. Using the theory of situated cognition and the nursing education simulation framework to guide the study, twenty nursing students and ten medical students participated in the HF-SICE. Students reported a statistically significant improvement in their attitudes towards IPE (t = -4.28, p = .000) and teamwork (t = -10.79, p = .000). Students also reported they had a better understanding of the knowledge and the roles of different interprofessional team members after participation. All of the students were satisfied with the HF-SICE as a teaching approach and wanted to participate in more sessions. Teamwork and interprofessional collaboration are essential skills in today’s complex healthcare arena; however, pre-licensure health sciences students have very little exposure to the roles and responsibilities of the team prior to graduation. This pilot study showed that participating in a HF-SICE can have a significantly positive impact on students’ attitudes towards collaboration and teamwork. These findings give support for implementing HF-SICE as an effective teaching learning approach with nursing and medicine students. Further research is needed to assess the impact of HF-SICE on student teamwork in the clinical setting.