Peer Teaching in an Interprofessional Education Activity Focused on Professional Skills Development

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of a peer-taught interprofessional education (IPE) activity on pharmacy and physician assistant (PA) student self-assessed confidence and attitudes related to professional skills. First-year pharmacy (n = 210) and PA (n = 45) students participated in a two-hour IPE activity. Forty-five teams consisting of one PA and at least four pharmacy students completed three peer-teaching stations focused on diabetes device education, pulmonary device teaching/case workup, and physical assessment skills. Students completed a pre- and post-activity confidence survey and a post-activity attitudes survey. For pharmacy students, highest confidence gains were noted on the items related to performing a physical exam. For PA students, largest gains were noted on the items related to insulin delivery systems. Eighty-three percent of students either agreed or strongly agreed with the statement “I learned things during this IPE activity that I will implement in clinical practice.” Seventy six percent of students felt that the physical assessment station was “beneficial or very beneficial” to their learning. A vast majority of students noted the IPE activity “somewhat or definitely” enhanced their communication with other health professionals and promoted a climate of mutual respect. In conclusion, peer teaching improved student attitudes and confidence.

The educational needs of triage nurses

The role of triage nurses is critical to ensuring patient safety and timely access to emergency care. Continuing professional development and ongoing support is required to effectively support the competence of triage staff. To date, very few studies have sought to describe the educational needs of triage nurses.This study aimed to identify which type of educational support nurses feel they need to manage the triage process.A validated questionnaire was used to explore triage nurses’ perceived educational support needs in relation to managing the triage process.On average, participants had 11.33 years of experience in their current role (SD = 7.27), 15.43 in emergency (SD = 9.80) and 13.44 in triage (SD = 9.16). Triage nurses (n = 27) identified the introduction of new ideas at triage to increase efficiency as the area in which they were in greatest need of training. Priority education needs that focused on clinical tasks, such as physical assessment skills, particularly in relation to observations and vital signs, to inform triage decision making were also identified. These priority education needs will inform the design of education programs and the development of the capabilities of the nursing workforce.Future research should seek to explore the traditional responsibilities of triage nurses, particularly to address queuing and delays at triage.

Developing Physical Assessment Skills in Pharmacy Students through Participation in a Creative Movement Workshop: An Interdisciplinary Study between Pharmacy and Dance

The role a pharmacist plays in the care of patients is continually changing and expanding. Most recently, there is movement towards including pharmacists in the physical assessment of patients. We developed a creative movement workshop with the purpose of increasing students’ levels of comfort with touch, ability to interpret non-verbal mannerisms, to increase empathy for the patient, and to increase student comfort in conducting physical exams. In this interventional study, surveys were administered to third year pharmacy students, before and after the creative movement workshop, in order to assess participant’s change in level of comfort with a variety of behaviors needed to conduct effective physical assessment. The two hour workshop involved: partner stretching, mirroring, and creative spatial exploration between bodies. The 11-item survey evaluated students’ perceptions on touch, nonverbal communication, and sharing personal space. Our results showed that the level of comfort improved for the ability to give touch (p = 0.001), the ability to receive touch (p = 0.002), and the ability to share personal space (p = 0.001). Participants commented that the workshop increased their understanding of how important confidence is when performing physical assessment and reported an increased appreciation for how much non-verbal mannerisms can communicate to another. This study explores how an interdisciplinary workshop between pharmacy and dance has the potential to increase student effectiveness as future healthcare professionals, by targeting skills not often focused on within traditional pharmacy curriculums, including: sharing personal space, displaying empathy, and providing a comforting and confident touch.