(91) Interprofessional GI Bleed Simulation with Pharmacy and Nursing Students to Emphasize Continuity of Care Concepts

Objective : Implement a new simulation to (1) assess pharmacy student perceptions of the importance of continuity of care and (2) emphasize importance of interprofessional collaboration.

Methods: An innovative interprofessional simulation was developed in a third-year pharmacy course. This manikin-based activity involved a patient with a GI bleed due to medication misuse and was the fifth encounter with this patient for pharmacy students. Pharmacy and nursing students collaborated to assess the patient and develop a treatment plan. All students then participated in a debrief, and pharmacy students completed the IPEC Competency self-assessment tool and a post-survey.

Results: Forty-six pharmacy and 15 nursing students completed the activity. Forty-one pharmacy students (89%) completed the post-survey. On a scale of 1-10 (1=lowest, 10=highest), the mean perceived importance of the continuity of care aspect was 7.45 (SD 1.86), benefits of following the same patient over time was 7.48 (SD 2.33), and comfort level in providing a treatment recommendation for a familiar patient was 7.21 (SD 1.85). On the IPEC Competency self-assessment, most students either agreed or strongly agreed they were able to use communication skills and techniques to facilitate effective team interactions (90.2%), place interests of patients at the center of interprofessional healthcare delivery (90%), inform healthcare decisions by integrating knowledge and experience of other professions (95.1%), engage other healthcare professionals in shared problem-solving (95.1%), develop a trusting relationship with other team members (95.1%), and use strategies that improve the effectiveness of interprofessional teamwork and team-based care (95.1%).

Conclusions: Incorporating innovative interprofessional simulations into pharmacy curricula is an effective method to demonstrate the importance of practice collaboration and emphasize continuity of care within the curriculum.