P041: The nursing shift: measuring the effect of inter-professional education on medical students in the emergency department

Abstract

Introduction/Innovation Concept: Inter-professional education (IPE) involves ‘occasions when two or more professions learn with, from and about each other to improve collaboration and the quality of care’. Current literature has found IPE to increase knowledge and skills, improve attitudes towards other professions, and to promote superior clinical outcomes. Health Canada has collaborated to form accreditation standards to support IPE in Canadian medical schools. The proposed educational innovation termed the ‘nursing shift,’ based out of Kelowna General Hospital’s Department of Emergency Medicine, in partnership with UBC’s Southern and Island Medical Programs, endeavors to enhance IPE in our institution. Methods: This nursing shift was first trialed with third year medical students as a pilot rotation beginning in March of 2016. Based on overwhelmingly positive results obtained from narrative feedback, a formal rotation with the same structure will be implemented in the form of a prospective cohort study with 48 medical students from two UBC sites. One group will attend a nursing shift, while the other group will complete the standard emergency medicine rotation without this nursing shift. Impact will be measured using a mixed-method analysis where students will be asked to provide both quantitative feedback in the form of a questionnaire, and qualitative feedback in the form of a narrative response. The primary outcome will be quantitative score differences between the groups of students, and the secondary outcome will be qualitative results for those who completed the nursing shift. Curriculum, Tool, or Material: The innovative educational concept consists of an 8-hour nursing shift where medical students spend the first 4 hours at triage with a nurse learning about patient intake. The remaining 4 hours are in the emergency department where students collaborate with a nurse on a number of tasks including preparing and administering medications, starting intravenous lines, and inserting Foley catheters. Conclusion: Healthcare systems are shifting to a more collaborative team oriented approach, and IPE has been shown to prepare students for this changing workplace. We seek to understand third year medical students’ experience of the nursing shift, and to evaluate any changes in attitudes towards inter-professional collaboration after engaging in this intervention. Evaluation of this novel implementation will enable us to assess and optimize the nursing shift, and if it is well received, encourage widespread adoption.