Interprofessional education: Lessons learned from conducting an electronic health record assignment

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Education
• Patient Safety
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Ineffective collaboration and communication in healthcare lead to fragmented care, increased errors, and poor patient outcomes.
• Interprofessional education (IPE) is underutilized, leaving healthcare students trained in silos without essential collaborative skills.
• Developing effective communication and teamwork is vital for improving patient care quality and safety.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of an interprofessional case study assignment on students' informatics competency, teamwork, and communication skills.
• To explore the development of collaborative practice roles and responsibilities among diverse healthcare students.
• To assess the effectiveness of an academic electronic health record (AEHR) in fostering interprofessional learning.

Main Methods:

• Nursing, health informatics, and radiologic technology students collaborated on an AEHR using fictitious patient data.
• The assignment simulated care transitions, requiring students to develop a hand-off communication template.
• Student learning was evaluated based on informatics competency, teamwork behaviors, and communication skills, aligning with Quality and Safety Education for Nurses and IPE Collaborative competencies.

Main Results:

• Students demonstrated increased informatics competency through AEHR data entry, analysis, and application.
• The collaborative case study enhanced students' communication and teamwork behaviors.
• Students actively engaged in interprofessional collaboration, recognizing its importance for quality and safe patient care.

Conclusions:

• Interprofessional education incorporating AEHRs effectively improves essential collaboration and communication skills among healthcare students.
• Simulating care transitions within an interprofessional framework enhances patient safety preparedness.
• This educational approach is vital for preparing future healthcare professionals for effective teamwork and optimal patient outcomes.