Interprofessional Education Innovation: Telehealth Objective Structured Clinical Examination With Family Nurse...

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Education
• Nursing Practice
• Pharmacy Education

Background:

• Interprofessional education (IPE) is crucial for advanced nursing practice curricula to foster healthcare team collaboration.
• Traditional IPE faces challenges like time constraints, accessibility, and geographical barriers.
• Virtual modalities offer a scalable solution to increase IPE opportunities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of a virtual, telehealth-based Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) for interprofessional education.
• To assess the feasibility of implementing virtual IPE simulations between different academic institutions.

Main Methods:

• An innovative telehealth OSCE was designed for family nurse practitioner and pharmacy students from separate institutions.
• Students participated in a virtual simulation to practice interprofessional collaboration.
• Faculty assessed student performance using defined competencies.

Main Results:

• The virtual IPE simulation was successfully implemented across different academic institutions.
• Student performance was evaluated based on established competencies.
• Both faculty and students reported positive feedback on the interprofessional learning experience.

Conclusions:

• Telehealth virtual simulations are a viable and effective method for delivering interprofessional education.
• This approach successfully overcomes common barriers to IPE implementation.
• The positive outcomes suggest a promising future for virtual IPE in healthcare training.