Integration of Interprofessional Education across a Community College Health Technologies Division: Promoting a Culture of Effective Communication and Teamwork

Problem: Healthcare is a high risk industry that demands effective teamwork and communication skills critical for delivering safe patient care. Interprofessional collaboration and team training in healthcare has gained momentum over the last decade; however, implementation of evidence-based methodologies for teaching these vital skills remains fragmented and inadequately disseminated. Context: The need for team training starts in pre-professional healthcare education. Providing students with a shared mental model for the development of the knowledge and skills required for effective teamwork is necessary for safe transition into clinical practice. Interventions: A comprehensive 3-hour health professions interprofessional education (IPE) workshop was crafted and delivered to health technology students as part of a three-phased Doctor of Nursing Practice project with the aim of integrating IPE into the culture and curriculum of the Health Technologies Division of a community college in Northeast Ohio. Measures: Project metrics included an organizational culture assessment questionnaire for health technology program directors (phase one) based on the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS). The RIPLS instrument served as the pre-intervention and post-intervention assessment tool for phases two and three to evaluate changes in student readiness and attitudes toward IPE after the workshop. Results: Student participants reported an increase in readiness for IPE and more positive attitudes toward interprofessional learning following the intervention. Participation in IPE within the division increased 100% (from four to eight programs) as a result of the project. Conclusions: The careful development and implementation of a phased IPE program is a feasible approach to increasing IPE readiness and participation across a community college health technologies division