Background: There is a direct emphasis on interprofessional learning and interprofessional education (IPE) at the accreditation and national level (IPE, 2016). There are, however, no studies on the effectiveness in the delivery of interprofessional collaboration in the academic setting, specific to occupational therapy assistant students. Therefore, the following research has been developed to address this area of need in occupational therapy assistant education. Methods: This research was conducted in the academic setting, through a simulated lab-based case with occupational therapy assistant and physical therapist assistant students as the participants. The perceived confidence and communication were measured through a pre and post survey using the Interdisciplinary Education Perception Scale (IEPS). Qualitative data was collected 10 months after the IP event in the form of a focus group. Results: Twenty-three students participated in the interprofessional event. The quantitative results while using a paired samples t-test indicated that IEPS pre-test mean scores (M = 90.08) were significantly different than the IEPS post-test mean scores (M = 97.95), (t [23] = 5.57, p < .001). The qualitative finding results resulted in the following themes: collaboration, building confidence and effective communication skills, during the IPE event, and student reflection of IPE. Conclusions: Many health program accreditation bodies include IPE within their educational standards. The results of this one-day interprofessional event demonstrated that the participants showed an improvement in their perceptions of affective domain components within an interdisciplinary education program. The results were IEPS and all four subscales within the IEPS were statistically significant indicating that student learning occurred in all domains. Occupational therapy assistant faculty need to continue to seek creative avenues to support and incorporate IPE in the academic setting to better prepare OT practitioners to work collaboratively in the workplace and with the clients they serve.

Objective. To describe an interprofessional communication course in an academic health sciences center and to evaluate and compare interpersonal and interprofessional communication self-efficacy beliefs of medical, nursing, and pharmacy students before and after course participation, using Bandura’s self-efficacy theory as a guiding framework. Design. First-year nursing (n=36), first-year medical (n=73), and second-year pharmacy students (n=83) enrolled in an interprofessional communication skills development course voluntarily completed a 33-item survey instrument based on Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) core competencies prior to and upon completion of the course during the fall semester of 2012. Assessment. Nursing students entered the course with higher interpersonal and interprofessional communication self-efficacy beliefs compared to medical and pharmacy students. Pharmacy students, in particular, noted significant improvements in communication self-efficacy beliefs across multiple domains postcourse. Conclusion. Completion of an interprofessional communications course was associated with a positive impact on health professions students’ interpersonal and interprofessional communication self-efficacy beliefs.

Bakgrund: Kommunikationsverktyget Situation, Bakgrund, Aktuellt och Rekommendation (SBAR) har visat sig drastiskt sänka rapporteringstid, ökat rapporteringseffektiviteten och förbättrat patientsäkerheten. I dagsläget rekommenderas SBAR av myndigheter, organisationer och forskare. Trots användningsbarheten av SBAR finns det bristande forskning kring vårdpersonalens erfarenheter av verktyget. Syfte: Syftet är att beskriva vårdpersonalens erfarenheter av att rapportera enligt SBAR. Metod: Detta examensarbete är en litteraturstudie och analysmetoden är en allmän litteraturöversikt. Tre kvalitativa, fyra kvantitativa och tre mixade studier har analyserats i detta arbete. Resultat: Fyra teman identifierades under analysprocessen. Dessa teman var: Förståelse för SBAR-strukturen, Prioriteringar i omvårdnaden, Kommunikationsstruktur samt Arbetstillfredsställelse. Slutsats: SBAR ger vårdpersonalen ett gemensamt språk genom att alla utgår från samma rapporteringsstruktur. Vårdpersonalen ansåg att SBAR ökar patientsäkerheten samt ökade känslan av självsäkerhet. Överväldigande positiva attityder mot SBAR men skillnader förekom. Skillnader i förståelse för SBAR och hur tidskrävande SBAR ansågs vara. / Background: The Situation, Background, Assessment and Recommendation (SBAR) communication tool has shown to drastically lower report-time, improve report efficiency and improve patient safety. Today, the use of SBAR is recommended by authorities, organizations, and researchers. Despite the usefulness of SBAR, little research has been done about the experiences of medical staff in the use of this tool. Aim: The aim of this study is to describe the experiences of medical staff in reporting according to the SBAR communication tool. Method: This exam is a literature review. Analysing three qualitative, four quantitative and three mixed studies. Results: Four themes were discovered during the analysing process. These themes were: Understanding of the SBAR-structure, Prioritization in nursing, Communication structure, Work satisfaction. Conclusion: SBAR provides a common language for medical staff by equipping them with a shared end-of-shift reporting structure. Medical staff perceived SBAR to increase patient safety and also increased self-confidence amongst staff. Overwhelmingly positive attitudes towards SBAR were found, although differences in attitudes did occur. Differences in the understanding of the SBAR structure occurred as well as variances in the perceived time consumption of the SBAR tool.

Objectives: 1) To evaluate the impact of an interprofessional blended learning course on pharmacy and medical students’ communication skills; 2) To compare pre- and post-course communication skills across cohorts. Method: Pharmacy (N = 57) and medical (N = 67) students enrolled in a required Communication Skills for Health Professionals course completed asynchronous online modules and face-to-face standardized patient interview sessions over the course of 1 semester. Students completed pre- and post-course objective structured clinical examinations with standardized patients and were evaluated by trained faculty using the validated Common Ground Instrument. Communication skill domains evaluated on a 1 to 5 scale included: rapport building, agenda setting, information management, active listening, addressing feelings, and establishing common ground. Nonparametric statistical tests were used to examine paired pre-/post-course domain scores within professions and pre- and post-course scores across professions. Results: Performance in all communication skill domains increased significantly for pharmacy and medical students (p valuesImplications: The blended learning Communication Skills for Health Professionals course improved students’ interpersonal communication skills across multiple domains. Fostering communication skill development in medical and pharmacy students could improve the extent to which future health care professionals engage in patient-centered communication.

This study compared perceptions of prescribers and pharmacists (N = 89) regarding multiple aspects of prescription drug abuse. Questionnaires were developed to assess perceptions regarding the prevalence of prescription drug abuse, self-perceived communication competence, and additional communication and prescription drug abuse domains. Pharmacists perceived a larger percentage of patients (41%) to be abusing opioid pain relievers as compared with their prescriber colleagues (17%). Both prescribers and pharmacists indicated improvements in prescriber–pharmacist communication would serve to deter prescription drug abuse. Self-efficacy beliefs for detecting and discussing prescription drug abuse with patients were low for both cohorts. Implications and limitations are noted.