An Interprofessional Curriculum to Advance Relational Coordination and Professionalism in Early-Career Practitioners
Katherine B. Valenziano,
Susan A. Glod,
Sharon Jia,
Andrew Belser,
Brent Brazell,
Cheryl Dellasega,
Linda Duncan,
Michelle Farnan,
Paul Haidet,
Jan Phillips,
Daniel Wolpaw,
Peter W. Dillon
Affiliations
Katherine B. Valenziano
Instructor, Department of Surgery, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine; Instructor, Department of Humanities, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
Susan A. Glod
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Palliative Medicine Program, Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
Sharon Jia
Third-Year Medical Student, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
Andrew Belser
Director, Arts & Design Research Incubator, Pennsylvania State University; Professor of Movement, Voice & Acting, Pennsylvania State University; Director of FaceAge Multimedia Instillation, Pennsylvania State University
Brent Brazell
Senior Director, Learning & Leadership Development, Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
Cheryl Dellasega
Professor, Department of Humanities, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine; Director, Qualitative Research Initiative, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
Linda Duncan
Administrator, Center for Enterprise Innovation, Pennsylvania State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
Michelle Farnan
Nurse Coordinator, Palliative Care Program, Pennsylvania State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
Paul Haidet
Director of Medical Education Research, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine; Co-Director, Office for Scholarship in Learning and Education Research, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine; Professor, Department of Medicine, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine; Professor, Department of Humanities, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine; Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
Jan Phillips
Director of Nursing, Adult Acute Care and Emergency Services & Care Transitions, Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
Daniel Wolpaw
Professor, Department of Medicine, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine; Professor, Department of Humanities, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
Peter W. Dillon
John A. & Marian T. Waldhausen Professor of Surgery, Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine; Chair, Department of Surgery, Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine; Vice Dean for Clinical Affairs, Penn State Health Medical Group; Chief Operating Officer, Penn State Health Medical Group
Introduction We created a curriculum to help new physicians and nurses develop skills in interprofessional collaboration. This modular, team-based curriculum for early practitioners delivered training in the five following skill areas: listening for meaning, soliciting another's perspective, negotiating a transparent plan of care, attending to nonverbal communication and microaggression, and speaking up the hierarchy. Methods We brought first-year medical and surgical residents and new nurses together for a 2-hour session monthly for 5 months. Each session began with an interactive large-group presentation, followed by small-group activities covering one of the five skill areas above, which had been identified as critical to interprofessional collaboration by national organizations. We measured relational coordination (RC), a validated measure of how well teams work together, before and after the curriculum was administered. We also obtained qualitative data from participant interviews and end-of-session evaluations. Results Participants reported that the program helped them gain an understanding of each other's roles and workflow challenges. They felt that the curriculum allowed for the cultivation of professional relationships outside the clinical environment, which improved collegiality via gains in rapport and empathy towards each other. Nurses noted increased approachability of their physician colleagues after participation. RC scores improved for the entire cohort (p = .0232). Nurses had statistically higher RC gains than interns did (p = .0055). Discussion Curriculum participants demonstrated improved RC scores and reported increased rapport with and empathy for each other. Curriculum development in this area is important because it may lead to better team-based patient care.
