Simulation as an Effective Strategy for Interprofessional Education

- Interprofessional collaboration improves patient outcomes.
- Health professional students must be educated to work together in effective teams.
- Simulation is an effective means to provide interprofessional education.

Interprofessional simulation provides healthcare professions students an opportunity to collaborate in a team. The purpose of this study was to examine student perspectives of an interprofessional simulation lab experience within the fields of nursing, physical therapy, nutrition, and social work. A pre-post design was employed, using the validated Interprofessional Attitudes Survey Interprofessional Education Collaborative tools to determine if there were any perceived changes in interprofessional competency and attitudes about interprofessional simulation experience. Following the simulation there were significant changes in students' attitudes in areas of cultural competence, understanding of roles, interprofessional communication and teamwork. Interprofessional simulation is a teaching strategy that shows great promise for promoting teamwork among the healthcare professions.