Developing pre-licensure interprofessional and stroke care competencies through skills-based simulations

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Education
• Interprofessional Practice
• Simulation-Based Learning

Background:

• Interprofessional collaboration (IPC) is crucial for managing complex stroke care.
• Pre-licensure health professional curricula increasingly incorporate interprofessional educational experiences (IPE).
• The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated adaptations in simulation delivery methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of differing simulation delivery methods on students' perceptions and learning of IPC in stroke care.
• To assess if COVID-19-related changes in simulation format affected student interprofessional competency ratings.
• To analyze student-reported learning outcomes from interprofessional stroke team simulations.

Main Methods:

• A six-year mixed-method program evaluation of a two-part stroke team simulation.
• Utilized the Interprofessional Collaborative Competency Assessment Scale (ICCAS) pre- and post-simulation.
• Employed factorial ANOVA for ICCAS scores and content/category analysis for free-text responses.

Main Results:

• Overall, simulation delivery formats did not significantly alter positive changes in ICCAS scores.
• Significant pre-post differences were observed in interprofessional competencies related to roles/responsibilities and collaborative patient/family-centered approaches.
• Analysis of over 10,000 written responses indicated enhanced understanding of scope of practice, role dynamics, and team member value.

Conclusions:

• Interprofessional stroke team simulations effectively enhance students' understanding of collaborative practice, regardless of delivery format.
• Specific competencies, including role clarity and patient-centered collaboration, showed significant improvement.
• While virtual and in-person simulations yielded comparable competency gains, students expressed a preference for in-person experiences.