Interprofessional Simulation in Nursing Education: An Integrative Review

Sunday, 30 July 2017

Bette A. Mariani, PhD, RN, ANEF1
Jessica Doolen, PhD, MSN, BSN, ADN2
Christine Pariseault, MSN1
Trisha Leann Horsley, PhD3
Jennifer O'Rourke, PhD3
(1)College of Nursing, Villanova University, Villanova, PA, USA
(2)School of Nursing, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, USA
(3)Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, IL, USA

Purpose:  Interprofessional education provides a collaborative approach for providing safe quality care in health care; this requires shared knowledge, skills, and communication Simulation-based experiential learning is recognized as an effective way to promote interprofessional education teamwork. The purpose of this integrative review was to provide an overview of research topics that have been well studied in interprofessional simulation involving the nursing discipline and which research topics require more investigation. The focus of the review was on qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods interprofessional research.

Methods:  Four research questions guided this systematic review of the literature from January 1, 2010 to July 1, 2016 focusing on interprofessional simulation research in nursing. The four questions were: 1) What research topics are well studied in IPE simulation involving the nursing discipline?; 2) What research topics in IPE simulation involving the nursing discipline require more investigation?; 3) What disciplines has nursing collaborated with in IPE simulation research?; 4) What outcomes have been studied in IPE simulation research involving the nursing discipline? Five researchers searched several databases for research articles that met the inclusion criteria. All articles included the three keywords: simulation, nursing, and interprofessional. Additional terms that were searched with the three keywords were: collaboration, multidisciplinary, collegial, and interprofessional education. The words quantitative and qualitative were also applied to narrow the search to include only research studies. The team explored which disciplines nursing has collaborated with on interprofessional simulation research as well as what outcomes have been studied. The Simulation Research Evaluation Rubric (SRR) was used to evaluate the final articles that met the inclusion/exclusion criteria. The articles were scored based on the SRR.

Results: The systematic search of several databases yielded a total of 1457 articles. These were narrowed down using inclusion and exclusion criteria. The final number of articles included in the review will be discussed. The Simulation Research Rubric was used to score the published research articles. The findings from the review will be reported and answers to the four research questions will be provided.

Conclusion:  Implications for this nursing education and practice will be reported, and recommendations for future research will be discussed.