Comparison of Communications Styles Amongst Students in Allied Health Professions Programs: How Do Our Students Communicate with Other Healthcare Providers?

Background: Optimal patient outcomes require communication between providers in multiple professions to initiate referrals, communicate patient treatment, and coordinate care. While there is a clear need for increased understanding of the terminology, skills, and scopes of practice of professional colleagues, these tools are of limited effectiveness if there is poor interpersonal communication between team members. Multiple bodies for Interprofessional Practice and Education (IPP/IPE) identify communication skills as an integral part of education. In fact, the third competency domain set down by the Interprofessional Education Collaborative, Interprofessional Communication, states that professionals should, “Recognize how one’s own uniqueness, including experience level, expertise, culture, power, and hierarchy within the healthcare team, contributes to effective communication, conflict resolution, and positive interprofessional working relationships” [1].Methods and Findings: As part of a required interprofessional competence course, first-year students in ten health professions programs completed the Personal Coaching Style Inventory (PSCI) to self-identify personal communication styles. A series of one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) analyses followed by Tukey post-hoc analyses were performed in order to identify significant differences in PSCI component scores between programs. Within groups, students discussed personal and cohort-wide findings as they impact teamwork. The majority of students identified with the Mediator style. Differences in style were also found in relation to profession, gender, and race. The activity prompted discussion of varied roles in team dynamics, and how differences in style could affect interprofessional teamwork.Conclusions: Self-awareness of personal communication styles as well as predominant styles of other health professions may enhance interprofessional communication\skills. The skill with which students approach their team roles in heterogeneous groups following graduation has the potential to increase team functionality and patient outcomes.

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Attitudes and Behavior towards Interprofessional Collaboration among Healthcare Professionals in a Large Academic Medical Center

Healthcare ◽

10.3390/healthcare8030323 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

pp. 323

Author(s):

Benjamin E. Ansa ◽

Sunitha Zechariah ◽

Amy M. Gates ◽

Stephanie W. Johnson ◽

Vahé Heboyan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Patient Care ◽

Interprofessional Education ◽

Healthcare Professionals ◽

Interprofessional Collaboration ◽

Medical Center ◽

Core Competencies ◽

Academic Medical Center ◽

Healthcare Team ◽

Interprofessional Communication ◽

Academic Medical

The increasing rates of comorbidities among patients and the complexity of care have warranted interprofessional collaboration (IPC) as an important component of the healthcare structure. An initial step towards assessing the effectiveness of collaboration requires the exploration of the attitudes and experience of healthcare professionals towards IPC. This online survey aimed to examine the attitudes of healthcare professionals working in a large public academic medical center toward IPC in patient care and the healthcare team, and their behavior and experience regarding IPC. The rankings, according to the perceived importance among the respondents, of the four Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) core competencies (values/ethics, roles/responsibilities, interprofessional communication, teams/teamwork) were assessed. There were strong but varying levels of consensus among healthcare professionals (N = 551) that IPC facilitates efficient patient care, improves patient problem-solving ability, and increases better clinical outcomes for patients. They acknowledged that IPC promotes mutual respect within the healthcare team and providers’ ability to make optimal patient care decisions. However, overall more than 35% of the respondents did not attend multidisciplinary education sessions (grand rounds, seminars, etc.), and about 23% did not participate in bedside patient care rounds. Interprofessional communication was ranked as the most important IPEC core competence. Although the attitude towards IPC among healthcare professionals is strongly positive, many healthcare professionals face challenges in participating in IPC. Institutional policies that facilitate interprofessional learning and interactions for this group of healthcare professionals should be formulated. Online distance learning and interactions, and simulation-enhanced interprofessional education, are options for addressing this barrier. Hospital administrators should facilitate conducive work environments that promote IPC, based on IPEC core competencies, and promote programs that address the challenges of IPC.

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Interprofessional Team Reasoning Framework as a Tool for Case Study Analysis with Health Professions Students: A Randomized Study

Journal of Research in Interprofessional Practice and Education ◽

10.22230/jripe.2012v2n3a96 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 2 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Kathleen Packard ◽

Hardeep Chelal ◽

Anna Maio ◽

Joy Doll ◽

Jennifer Furze ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Student Performance ◽

Interprofessional Education ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Randomized Study ◽

Health Professions ◽

Post Intervention ◽

Interprofessional Communication ◽

Case Study Analysis ◽

Interprofessional Team ◽

Team Reasoning

Background: This pilot study evaluated the efficacy of the Interprofessional Team Reasoning Framework (IPTRF) to facilitate teaching and learning case studies with health professions students.Methods and Findings: Eighteen interprofessional students were randomized to teams of six and were videotaped while completing a case. Team 1 (control) received only the case; team 2 received the case plus framework; and team 3 received the case, framework, and was shown videotaped examples of interprofessional interactions. The primary endpoint was students’ perceptions of interprofessional skills as measured pre and post intervention using a modified Team Skills Scale. The secondary endpoint was student performance as assessed by blinded individuals using a standardized rubric. The results revealed that students’ perceptions of team skills were significantly improved in team 2 and team 3 but not team 1. Students’ performance of their case as assessed by blinded faculty was significantly better in team 3 compared with teams 1 and 2.Conclusions: In this study of six disciplines, the IPTRF, in combination with modeled examples of interprofessional communication, was an effective tool to teach skills necessary to workup a patient case, which included collaboration, communication, and values/ethics. As the landscape of interprofessional education evolves, tools like the IPTRF will facilitate incorporation of these skills into health professions education.

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Geriatric Interprofessional Education

Building a Patient-Centered Interprofessional Education Program - Advances in Medical Education, Research, and Ethics ◽

10.4018/978-1-7998-3066-5.ch007 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 120-136

Author(s):

Tina M. Meyer ◽

Janice Hoffman Simen

Keyword(s):

Clinical Assessment ◽

Interprofessional Education ◽

Older Persons ◽

Health Professions ◽

Assessment Tools ◽

Health Needs ◽

Learning Activities ◽

Healthcare Team ◽

Interprofessional Learning ◽

American Geriatric Society

Older persons commonly experience complex health needs that are best met by a multifaceted healthcare team. Most healthcare disciplines provide geriatric competencies specific to their professions which support the development of IPE curricula. The American Geriatric Society provided a list of formal geriatric competencies that are useful to curriculum designers and health professions educators. The chapter provides ideas for imbedding commonly occurring geriatric concepts and clinical assessment tools that are relevant to all disciplines for the creation of interprofessional learning activities.

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Advancing interprofessional education in communication

Palliative & Supportive Care ◽

10.1017/s1478951521000663 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-6

Author(s):

Haley Buller ◽

Betty R. Ferrell ◽

Judith A. Paice ◽

Myra Glajchen ◽

Trace Haythorn

Keyword(s):

Quality Improvement ◽

Communication Skills ◽

Interprofessional Education ◽

Application Process ◽

Interprofessional Communication ◽

Course Content ◽

Training Project ◽

Oncology Care ◽

Oncology Practice ◽

National Training

Abstract Objective The objective of this training project is to develop and host Interprofessional Communication courses to improve interdisciplinary communication in oncology care. The initial national course was held in a virtual format and included pre- and post-course participant data. The curriculum was developed with support from the National Cancer Institute. Methods A virtual two-day course was held to equip nurses, social workers, and chaplains with vital communication skills in oncology practice, so that they could return to their home institutions and teach communication skills to other healthcare professionals, with the intention of making improved communication a quality improvement goal. Fifty-two participants were selected through an application process to attend the virtual course in two-person interprofessional teams (e.g., nurse and chaplain, or social worker and nurse). The Interprofessional Communication Curriculum was based on the National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care's eight domains of quality palliative care. The six online modules developed by the investigators were presented in lectures, supplemented by discussion groups, role plays, and other methods of experiential learning. Results Pre- and post-course results identified areas of communication, which are a priority for improvement by oncology clinicians. Participant goals identified specific strategies to be implemented by participants in their settings. Significance of results The need for communication training was clearly demonstrated across professions in this national training course. Participants were able to apply course content to their goals for quality improvement in cancer settings.

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Exploring Social Media’s Potential in Interprofessional Education

Journal of Research in Interprofessional Practice and Education ◽

10.22230/jripe.2013v3n2a110 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Jeff Cain ◽

Katherine Chretien

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Collaborative Care ◽

Interprofessional Education ◽

Health Professions ◽

Health Professions Education ◽

Time And Space ◽

Interprofessional Communication ◽

Interdisciplinary Nature ◽

Mainstream Society ◽

Media Applications

Social media applications such as Facebook, Twitter, and blogs have become part of mainstream society and are currently being used throughout health professions education. The asynchronous nature and conversational aspects of social media permit learners to collaborate with and learn from others in different fields. Interprofessional education (IPE) is a growing paradigm in health professions schools for a variety of reasons, including the desire to teach future practitioners how to communicate with each other and engage in collaborative care. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of IPE curricula, those programs must overcome numerous logistical barriers to be successful. Finding suitable times and locations for interprofessional students to meet and arranging opportunities for them to collaborate on healthcare issues are just two of the logistical impediments to IPE implementation. Fortunately, the asynchronous, conversational, and collaborative aspects of social media applications enable them to facilitate interprofessional communication and alleviate some of the time and space issues. In this article, we describe in further detail the merits of social media relevant to IPE, provide specific examples of how social media can be used to enhance aspects of IPE programs, and make a call for further research in this area.

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Fundamentals of Interprofessional Communication

Interprofessional E-Learning and Collaborative Work ◽

10.4018/978-1-61520-889-0.ch008 ◽

2010 ◽

pp. 90-103 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Patricia Solomon ◽

Sue Baptiste

Keyword(s):

Communication Skills ◽

Interprofessional Education ◽

Role Model ◽

Interprofessional Collaboration ◽

Discussion Board ◽

Self Awareness ◽

Patient Centered ◽

Interprofessional Communication ◽

Faculty Facilitator ◽

Centered Care

This chapter presents the development, implementation and evaluation of a module on interprofessional communication skills that incorporates principles of problem-based learning, delivered entirely online. Learners focus initially on foundational concepts of relationship and patient centered care, the importance of self awareness and understanding their own professional values and biases, progressing towards teamworking to develop common patient care goals. The module faculty facilitator is essential to role model and foster interprofessional collaboration. Qualitative content analyses of discussion board postings across 29 students, supplemented by small-scale in-depth interviews and a focus group, reveal they are able to learn interprofessional communication skills online. The 10 students who undertook both module components completed a project evaluation form: there was 85.6% agreement that the module taught them about interprofessional education and 92.9% agreement that their knowledge of other health professionals’ perspectives increased. An online module can support the development of communication skills, but is recommended as one component of an overall interprofessional education curriculum.

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Bridging the gap: Reflections on teaching interprofessional communication to undergraduate paramedic and nursing students

Australasian Journal of Paramedicine ◽

10.33151/ajp.11.4.2 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Tania Johnston ◽

Alex MacQuarrie ◽

John Rae

Keyword(s):

Nursing Students ◽

Communication Skills ◽

Interprofessional Education ◽

Large Scale ◽

Shared Understanding ◽

Educational Tool ◽

Interprofessional Communication ◽

Team Members ◽

Clinical Handover ◽

Staff Members

IntroductionThe literature emphasises the vital importance of interprofessional communication during clinical handover as being paramount to patient safety. At Charles Sturt University we explored how simulation can be employed in an interprofessional education (IPE) exercise exposing paramedic and nursing students to a high-pressure emergency department wherein they must engage in patient handover.MethodsOver a 4-day period in April 2012, 200 paramedic and nursing students participated in an intensive simulation exercise where they practised interprofessional communication. The project team subsequently debriefed all student and staff members to gain insight through the participants’ experiences.ResultsOur results demonstrated that students become more comfortable interacting and communicating with other team members during scenarios. In addition to experiencing first hand that IPE is an effective tool for developing communication skills, we determined that this could be successfully facilitated in a large-scale simulated IPE to help students develop a shared understanding between disciplines.ConclusionAcademics can work horizontally across disciplines to employ IPE in simulation as an educational tool to teach vital communication skills; and with paramedicine now being taught alongside nursing in tertiary centres, universities are well positioned to support collaborative interprofessional practice and communication.

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GAINING INTERPROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE THROUGH A GERIATRICS CASE CONFERENCE

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igz038.543 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. S151-S151

Author(s):

Amber S McIlwain ◽

Danielle Backus ◽

Kristine Marcus ◽

Jeff Fortner

Keyword(s):

Interprofessional Education ◽

Healthcare Providers ◽

Core Competency ◽

Healthcare Team ◽

Case Conference ◽

Her Family ◽

Centered Care ◽

Geriatric Disorder ◽

Positive Response Rate ◽

Care Conference

Abstract There is increased demand to provide health professions students with interprofessional education and practice experience. Interprofessional Case Conferences (ICC) allow students to work in teams to learn about different professions while exploring a topic through the lens of an interprofessional core competency. The goal of this particular ICC was to provide students an experience to witness and discuss team-based, person-centered care for a common geriatric disorder. The case was designed to develop the interprofessional competency of teams and teamwork. Students were divided into teams and observed live vignettes of a care conference involving an 80-year old female admitted to a rehabilitation facility following a hip fracture and replacement. Students witnessed how patients, families, and healthcare providers work together during a stressful time. After each vignette, students discussed questions related to miscommunications, motivations of the different actors involved, and how the healthcare team should respond. In the first offering, 93 students participated, increasing to 150 in the next year. Students completed a post-survey to determine if the session delivered a positive interprofessional experience. The average positive response rate was 92.5% (92-94%, n = 53) in year-1 and 93.5% (90-97%, n = 71) in year-2. By allowing students to witness a simulated live care conference, they had a tangible event to dissect instead of discussing hypotheticals. By discussing a geriatrics case in a rehabilitation setting, students witnessed how numerous healthcare professions coordinate care for a patient and her family, thereby demonstrating competence in teamwork.

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