The purpose of this introductory presentation to the symposium is to give the audience an overview of how one college within a university setting has been able to implement interprofessional education. This School of Nursing has embraced the Interprofessional Educational Collaborative (IPEC) competencies as these are used to guide student learning outcomes in various educational delivery methods (2016).
Methods:
A college of health and human services located in Southeastern North Carolina, United States has promoted and supported interprofessional work and community engagement for the past 6 years. This college consists of a school of nursing, a school of social work and health and human applied sciences that contains exercise science, recreational therapy and a gerontology department. This interprofessional collaborative work has happened outside of a health science center. One-day workshops were offered to interested faculty during a summer break to encourage interprofessional groups to develop, implement, and disseminate their work.
This college has a state of the art simulation center that houses an open medical ward, three separate Intensive Care Unit (ICU) rooms, a primary care office setting, a home apartment setting as well as rooms specific for the Operating Room (OR), a labor and delivery room, and a pediatric ward. Multiple manikins from low fidelity to high 4 G sim man fidelity are also available. The school of Nursing has been able to purchase, through generous donors, Reality works Geriatric suits and Into Aging simulation activities that allow students to feel what an older adult goes through on a daily basis. Nursing students taking Maternity, have a sympathy belly that simulates the weight of a pregnancy. Nursing faculty have engaged in numerous community organizations to develop simulations. For example, nursing students in their 5th and final semester participate in a simulated natural disaster scenario that includes Emergency Medical Services (EMS), paramedics, fire fighters, law enforcement, and the local red cross.The nursing faculty have been able to educate their students through experiential learning experiences that prove priceless in achieving student learning outcomes.
Results:
The results of the College of Health and Human Services supporting and promoting interprofessional educational work has been formations of several interprofessional work groups. These groups have been conducting research and disseminating results. This has made impact on the School of Nursing dissemination of presentations and publications. This, along with starting a Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP) program, has created a culture of quality improvement (Institutes of Health Improvement, 2017).
Conclusion: In the 2013 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, it states that interprofessional education is a tool to be used to improve outcomes. The academic setting is where educating the future health care work force on outcomes starts. This symposium will present three separate interprofessional collaborative projects from the nurse education perspective.
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