{"id":11293,"date":"2019-11-26T11:28:09","date_gmt":"2019-11-26T17:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maryville.edu\/mpress\/?p=11293"},"modified":"2020-01-07T19:51:50","modified_gmt":"2020-01-08T01:51:50","slug":"collaboration-is-key","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maryville.edu\/mpress\/collaboration-is-key\/","title":{"rendered":"Collaboration is Key"},"content":{"rendered":"

Students from the Myrtle E. and Earl E. Walker College of Health Professions<\/a> worked together and learned more about each other\u2019s disciplines during the annual Health Professions Interprofessional Education (IPE) Day.<\/p>\n

The event brought together 180 students from Maryville\u2019s music therapy<\/a>, nursing<\/a>, occupational therapy<\/a>, physical therapy<\/a>, speech language pathology<\/a> and rehabilitation counseling<\/a> programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe IPE Day was designed for different disciplines to learn with, from and about each other to improve collaboration and the quality of patient care,\u201d said Rebecca Birkenmeier, assistant professor of occupational therapy. \u201cThere is a huge benefit for our students to learn how to interact with other health professionals, and what every health professional brings to the table, before they graduate so that they are more successful when they enter the workforce.\u201d<\/p>\n

Organized into small groups, Maryville students worked through a series of case studies. For each, they explored how their individual disciplines would approach the patient\u2019s care. They then discussed the patient\u2019s care when multiple disciplines were involved.<\/p>\n

One of the case studies was about \u201cArthur,\u201d a 55-year-old man entering inpatient rehabilitation to address complications from a stroke. In addition to returning to activities of daily living, \u201cArthur\u201d wished to return to work as a mail carrier as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n

The Maryville students discussed a scenario where an occupational therapist determined \u201cArthur\u201d needed to perform bathing as part of his goals. But when the occupational therapist arrived, the patient had already been bathed by the nursing staff. The students shared how they would react to the situation and what strategies they would use to resolve the conflict.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really enjoyed learning from the different professions and realizing how we will collaborate in our professional lives,\u201d said Madison Heaman, who is studying speech-language pathology. \u201cThe day taught me that good communication is the key to providing the highest level of care possible for our patients.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nursing student Courtney Eisenbeis agreed the day helped rekindle her passion for patient care. \u201cBeing a health professional is about doing what\u2019s best for the patient,\u201d she said. \u201cI appreciated learning different strategies to prevent communication errors, which reminded me to always think big picture about the patient and what they need.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Health Professions IPE Day was overwhelmingly a success. Ninety-three percent of students said the learning activities helped them to better collaborate with other health professionals. Additionally, 99 percent of students said the learning activities helped promote effective communication while 98 percent of students said the day helped them to identify and describe their own profession\u2019s abilities and contributions to a health care team.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the best things about the day was seeing students find their place on a team,\u201d said Ashlyn Cunningham, assistant professor of occupational therapy. \u201cThey learned how to voice their opinions while respecting others at the same time. We all have a different role to play but we\u2019re most successful when we learn from one another.\u201d<\/p>\n