Jacobs et al - Using Simulations to Improve Interprofessional Communication and Role Identification between Nursing Student and Child Life Specialist Students - GAUISUS - Scholarship on Teaching and Learning at Illinois State University

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Using Simulations to Improve Interprofessional Communication and Role Identification between Nursing Student and Child Life Specialist Students

Peggy Jacobs
Mennonite College of Nursing • Illinois State University

Dr. Peggy J. Jacobs is an assistant professor at Mennonite College of Nursing. A nurse since 1984. She completed her bachelors in nursing from Mennonite College of Nursing, an MS in Nursing at Northern Illinois University, a post-masters certificate in Nurse-Midwifery and DNP at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her areas of specialty include OB, pediatrics, and health assessment. Dr. Jacob’s research interest are in simulation and breastfeeding support.

Sheri Kelly
Mennonite College of Nursing • Illinois State University

Sheri Kelly is an assistant professor at Mennonite College of Nursing. She received her MSN from Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing and PhD in Nursing Science from Illinois State University. Her areas of specialty include Emergency Care and Leadership. Sheri's research interests include the use of simulation in nursing education, expert role modeling, and improving outcomes for persons with dementia.

Keri Edwards
Department of Family and Consumer Sciences • Illinois State University

Keri Edwards is a certified child life specialist, who worked at a children’s hospital for 10 years. Her work at the hospital allowed her to work with child life students at both the practicum and intern level. As the Director of the Child Life Graduate Program, she now shares her knowledge and experiences with the next generation of child development professionals preparing to work with children and families in health care settings. Additionally, she is working toward her doctorate in Special Education.

Lynn Kennell
Mennonite College of Nursing • Illinois State University

Lynn Kennell, RN, MS, Instructional Assistant Professor, has been teaching in the Mennonite College of Nursing in the arenas of Nursing Care of Children, Maternal Infant Nursing, and Cultural and Spiritual Dimensions of Health Care for 35+ years. She serves as the Transcultural Faculty Advisor within the college, course leader of Nursing Care of Children, and is a clinical simulation specialist for our simulation laboratory serving on the Clinical Simulation Initiative Committee for the past several years.

Cindy Malinowski
Mennonite College of Nursing • Illinois State University

Cindy Malinowski is currently an Instructional Assistant Professor with Mennonite College of Nursing at ISU. She teaches courses related to pathophysiology, pharmacology, and medical surgical nursing and functions as a Nursing Simulation Specialist.

Based on Recommendations by the World Health Organization to improve patient outcomes through teamwork and communication, the college of nursing collaborated with the child life specialist program to incorporate interprofessional collaboration into existing simulations. A quasi-experimental design with a pre and post-test regarding roles was used to discover how 3rd semester undergraduate nursing students and 3rd semester graduate child life specialist students (CSL) communicate during four simulated pediatric care scenarios. Consenting to participate were 49 nursing students and 4 CLS students. The intervention group included a CLS. Videotaped simulations and audio taped debriefings were evaluated with the validated Interprofessional Collaborator Assessment Rubric (ICAR). Significant differences were found in communication and collaborative patient family approach. Nursing students showed greater growth in role understanding of the CLS (pre-13.69, post-14.13) compared to the CLS of the nursing role (pre-8.6, post-9.4). Students recognized the need to continue to improve their teamwork and communication.