Measuring changes in pharmacy and nursing students' perceptions following an interprofessional high-fidelity...

Area of Science:

• Health Professions Education
• Interprofessional Education
• Simulation-Based Learning

Background:

• Effective interprofessional care is crucial for patient outcomes.
• Simulation-based learning (SBL) offers a controlled environment for healthcare training.
• Assessing student perceptions of interprofessional collaboration is vital for curriculum development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of interprofessional high-fidelity simulation-based learning (SBL) on third-year pharmacy and senior nursing students' perceptions of interprofessional care.
• To measure changes in student perceptions using validated instruments before and after the SBL experience.

Main Methods:

• Third-year pharmacy and senior nursing students participated in an interprofessional high-fidelity SBL experience with two hospital-based scenarios and debriefing.
• The "Student Perceptions of Interprofessional Clinical Education-Revised" (SPICE-R) instrument was used for pre- and post-SBL assessment.
• The "Student Satisfaction and Self-Confidence in Learning" (SSSCL) instrument was administered post-SBL.

Main Results:

• Significant improvements in interprofessional care perceptions were observed for both pharmacy and nursing students across most SPICE-R items (p < 0.01).
• All students reported high satisfaction and self-confidence in learning post-SBL.
• Nursing students reported higher satisfaction and confidence than pharmacy students on specific SSSCL items (p < 0.05).

Conclusions:

• Interprofessional high-fidelity SBL effectively enhances pharmacy and nursing students' perceptions of interprofessional care.
• Simulation-based learning is a valuable pedagogical approach for fostering interprofessional collaboration skills.
• The findings support the integration of interprofessional simulation into healthcare curricula to prepare future practitioners.