Evaluation of a nursing and pharmacy student educational activity promoting interprofessional learning.

BACKGROUND: Nurses and pharmacists are essential healthcare team members and must collaborate to provide safe and effective patient care. The purpose of this study was to evaluate nursing and pharmacy student views on interprofessional collaboration after completing an educational activity.

INTERPROFESSIONAL EDUCATION ACTIVITY: Students participated in an interprofessional activity designed to improve empathy toward older adults and completed an open-ended questionnaire post-activity regarding their experience and views on interprofessional collaboration. Content analysis identified themes grounded in the responses. Students (n = 216) felt communication needed improvement (n = 31, 16.8%), were frustrated with fragmented care (n = 31, 16.8%), found interprofessional collaboration necessary (n = 37, 20.1%), and enjoyed the interprofessional experience (n = 17, 9.2%).

DISCUSSION: Study results provide evidence for the inclusion of additional structured interprofessional activities into all health professions curriculum to emphasize collaboration, improve communication, and modify views in preparation for interprofessional practice.