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In exploring innovative approaches to enhanced patient care, an acute care interprofessional clinical learning unit (IPCLU) was established in a medical unit of a large metropolitan hospital in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Part of a larger, community based, participatory mixed method research project, this acute-care model involved several post-secondary institution health science faculties, students, academics, and other post-secondary institutions partnering with the hospital to coordinate and enhance student clinical learning and improve patient care.

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVES:

The communication of patient prognosis is an essential component of modern healthcare. Previous research has focussed on clinician-to-patient communication only, while the interaction between different professionals in a clinical setting remains relatively unexplored. The research reported here investigated how multidisciplinary clinicians (nursing, medicine and allied health) communicated prognosis information in these professional groups in an acute care setting.

METHODS:

An educational visit was made by a group of students representing all eight professional pathways on an interprofessional learning programme in health and social care at Canterbury Christ Church University to a hospital in Kerala, India. Interprofessional clinical supervision groups were organised in order to support the students, many of whom had little experience of foreign travel, in an environment they were anticipated to find emotionally challenging.

OBJECTIVE:

To assess the feasibility of recruitment and standardize care delivery for an interprofessional program for inflammatory arthritis education (Prescription for Education, or RxEd), and to explore outcomes relevant to arthritis patient education.

METHODS:

Interprofessional education (IPE) has received little attention in veterinary education even though members of the veterinary and nursing professions work closely together. The present study investigates veterinary and veterinary nursing students' and practitioners' experiences with interprofessional issues and the potential benefits of IPE.

BACKGROUND:

Undergraduate interprofessional education (IPE) is perceived by many in health and social care education to reduce barriers between the professions. In Aberdeen there has been an IPE programme with Robert Gordon University and University of Aberdeen, and 10 health and social care courses since 2003. The steering groups reported to the Scottish Government in 2008. It was recommended that IPE should be extended from classroom-based learning experiences to practice-based learning experiences.

METHODS:

BACKGROUND:

The medical community has only recently begun to address how human error affects patient safety. In order to confront human error in medicine, there is a need to teach students who are entering the health professions how potential errors may manifest and train them to prevent or mitigate these problems.

PURPOSE:

The objective is to describe a semester-long, interdisciplinary, human error and patient safety course taught at the University of South Florida.

METHODS:

This paper reports on undergraduate students' evaluation of a new hospice-based interprofessional practice placement (IPP) that took place in the voluntary sector from 2008 to 2009. Ward-based interprofessional training has been successfully demonstrated in a range of clinical environments. However, the multidisciplinary setting within a hospice in-patient unit offered a new opportunity for interprofessional learning.

PubMed URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22235756

Interprofessional education (IPE) is an important contributor to ensuring interprofessional collaboration and, ultimately, improving the quality of health care. However, there is a gap in available resources on critical success factors for implementing intentional interprofessional learning experiences. The Interprofessional Collaborative Organizational Map and Preparedness Assessment (IP-COMPASS) is a quality improvement framework that provides a structured process to help health care organizations become better prepared to offer IPE.