Mary Val Palumbo

Title : Innovations for overcoming barriers to interprofessional education

Abstract:

Based on the experience of developing, implementing and evaluating innovative interprofessional educational experiences, this session will describe activities which address: the Interprofessional Educational Collaborative (IPEC, 2016) competencies; the recommendations of the Institute of Medicine’s (2015) “Measuring the Impact of Interprofessional Education on Collaborative Practice and Patient Outcomes” report; as well as, the World Health Organization’s (2010) “Framework For Action on Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice” report which identifies the important role that interprofessional practice plays in mitigating the global health workforce crisis. The implementation and evaluation of three educational activities will be presented. First, the use of a virtual interprofessional clinic will be demonstrated. This activity eliminates one of the major logistical barriers to interprofessional education – time in the curriculum and room space for student discussion. Next, a simulation experience in palliative care will be described. This activity was designed to accommodate large groups of students discussing a movie simulation, both in-person and online. Lastly, case discussions utilizing video conferencing (for up to 8 professions) will be described and quantitative and qualitative evaluation results will be presented. Barriers to interprofessional education and practice will be identified and discussed. Benefits for overcoming these barriers will detail with reflection on how teaching interprofessional practice can improves health outcomes. The development of next steps for participants will be encouraged and workforce implications will also be discussed.

Audience Take Away:

• Participants will describe the recommended IPEC competencies for interprofessional education and practice.

• Participants will discuss the barriers to achieving these competencies that are faced in nursing education and practice.

• Participants will name three innovative ways to address these barriers and will review the results of each project.

• Participants will determine steps that can be taken in their work as nurses and educators to accelerate interprofessional collaboration efforts in the communities that they serve.

• Participants will identify workforce implications as nurses become more involved in interprofessional practice.

Biography:

Mary Val Palumbo DNP, GNP-BC, Professor at the University of Vermont, teaches in the graduate nurse practitioner program. Her Gerontological Nurse Practitioner practice is at the UVMMC Memory Program. As Director of the UVM AHEC Office of Nursing Workforce, she is actively involved in nurse workforce research. Because of the imperatives issued by health service policy makers and educational accrediting bodies, Dr. Palumbo’s work has recently focused on interprofessional education. She has established faculty collaborators to engage students in interprofessional activities from eight disciplines at the University of Vermont, Albany College of Pharmacy, Duke, Indiana State, and New York Universities.