Fostering Interdisciplinary Communication between Pharmacy and Nursing Students.

Area of Science:

• Health Professions Education
• Interprofessional Communication
• Curriculum Development

Background:

• Effective interdisciplinary communication is crucial for healthcare.
• Pharmacy and nursing students require robust interdisciplinary training.
• Current curricula may not fully address interdisciplinary communication skills.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess pharmacy and nursing students' self-perceived interdisciplinary communication skills.
• To evaluate faculty perceptions of student interdisciplinary communication.
• To determine the impact of increased interdisciplinary education content on these skills.

Main Methods:

• Two cohorts of pharmacy and Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) students participated in semester-long research courses.
• Active learning strategies focused on interdisciplinary communication.
• A second cohort received additional interdisciplinary communication content.
• Student and faculty evaluations (Likert-type) assessed communication skills and confidence.

Main Results:

• Students reported high confidence in their interdisciplinary communication skills.
• The second cohort, with more interdisciplinary content, showed greater confidence.
• Faculty members perceived stronger interdisciplinary communication skills in the second cohort.
• Both student self-perceptions and faculty evaluations indicated improvement.

Conclusions:

• Integrating interdisciplinary education into health professions curricula demonstrably enhances student communication skills.
• Multiple and varied interdisciplinary experiences can amplify skill development.
• Curriculum adjustments are effective in fostering interprofessional competence.