Technology in Interprofessional Nursing Education

 

Interdisciplinary collaboration in healthcare is necessary to provide patient-centered and comprehensive care.  Interdisciplinary collaboration offers benefits for both the patient and for members of the healthcare team.  Patients experience improved outcomes, improved safety, lessened risk of medical errors or adverse drug reactions, reduced costs, and decreased mortality rates.  Healthcare team members feel empowered to make recommendations about patient care, avoid/lessen communication gaps, have a team mentality, and have increased job satisfaction and morale.  This is a common practice in the healthcare field as there are many different disciplines involved in a patient’s care.  Interprofessional collaboration for the nursing profession needs to begin in their nursing education to prepare them to work effectively as a team as they begin their nursing profession.  The American Association of Colleges of Nursing acknowledges and advocates for educators to use teaching strategies to introduce interdisciplinary training into nursing education. 

In today’s world, patient care has become increasingly more complex.  Healthcare roles are becoming more specialized to meet these demands.  Now more than ever, there is a need for collaboration among healthcare professionals.  Interdisciplinary collaboration is essential for providing patient-centered holistic care. 

Nursing education has a responsibility to incorporate teamwork and interprofessional experiences into the curriculum.  These experiences can include written and verbal communication skills, team building, and collaborative problem solving.  Technology can enhance clinical experiences that integrate interdisciplinary learning strategies.  The interprofessional knowledge and skills a nurse receives in their education can be utilized and built on as they enter the workforce.   The use of technology can help an educator overcome physical and logistical barriers of interdisciplinary collaborative training.  Google hangout is a technological tool that can be utilized in the clinical experience as it allows students of different disciplines to be connected virtually and use a collaborative tool via a secure Google Doc.  Students can use their smartphones to enter and view patient information that is accessible to all team members.  Team members can therefore communicate amongst the team and collaboratively make recommendations for the patient to ensure optimal health outcomes.  High-fidelity simulation is also a great technology to implement in nursing education to foster evidence-based teamwork and communication.  With simulation, a scenario is presented and different disciplines work together to provide safe and competent care.

Technology and interdisciplinary education provide nursing students the skills and confidence they need to coordinate patient care and become successful team members.    

Technology and collaboration article

This article is about using technology to enhance interprofessional education to promote collaborative practice for students.  It is important to incorporate collaboration into the clinical experiences of nursing students.  These collaborative interactions have a positive impact on nursing students and enhance learning through group interactions in an active learning environment.  This article uses the example of Google Docs to promote team collaboration where every student can actively participate in an assignment. 

Interprofessional education article

Read this article to learn how to deliver patient-centered care as a member of an interdisciplinary team.  QSEN set forth a competency for safety and teamwork and collaboration are key elements of promoting patient safety.  Working collaboratively is a skill that when developed enhances problem-solving skills, understanding of each team member’s role, and improves communication skills.  Working collaboratively also promotes mutual respect and decisions are made as a team to achieve optimal patient care.