Attitudes of Nurse and Physician trainees towards an interprofessional simulated education experience on Pain Assessment and Management

• Published in: Journal of interprofessional care 2015-05, Vol.29 (3), p.276-278
• Main Authors: Salam, Tabassum, Saylor, Jennifer L., Cowperthwait, Amy Lynn
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Attitude of Health Personnel; Attitudes; College Students; Cooperation; Cooperative Behavior; Formative Feedback; Hospitalization; Humans; Interdisciplinary Approach; Interprofessional Relations; Management; Nurses; Pain Management - methods; Pain Measurement - methods; Patient Care Team; Patient Simulation; Patients; Physicians; Students, Medical - psychology; Students, Nursing - psychology; Teachers
• ISSN: 1356-1820; 1469-9567
• DOI: 10.3109/13561820.2014.950726

Abstract An interprofessional group of educators from multiple institutions piloted a simulation-based learning experience focusing on acute pain management. The participants in the program were resident physicians-novice nurse dyads, and medical student-nursing student dyads from large universities and a magnet health care system. Each dyad was challenged to assess and manage acute pain in a simulated hospitalized patient using effective collaboration skills. The simulations included pre-debriefing, simulation, and a debriefing session. Participants completed pre- and post-surveys measuring confidence in pain management and attitudes toward physician-nurse collaboration. There was a significant positive shift in the confidence of the learners' ability to assess and manage acute pain in a hospitalized patient after the simulation and debriefing (23.2% strongly agreed versus 7% at baseline). Participants' attitudes regarding education to enhance interprofessional collaboration improved after the simulation experience (83.9% strongly agreed versus 73.7% at baseline). Based on these encouraging findings, we are extending this interprofessional experience to a larger group of learners with the same targeted dyads.