Introduction:

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), the General Medical Council (GMC), and the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) all stipulate within their standards of education the requirement for students to be trained and prepared to work collaboratively within multidisciplinary teams. Despite this, the integration of meaningful Interprofessional Education (IPE) remains a significant challenge within the higher education sector. Barriers to success have been cited as a lack of skills and experience, staff commitment, logistics of collaboration, organisation, and sustainability [1-3].

In November 2023 and March 2024, a total of 650 undergraduate students from various healthcare disciplines actively engaged in an extensive IPE initiative. The participants included those studying medicine, physician associate, midwifery, nursing, nutrition, counselling & psychotherapy, social work, paramedicine, and operating department practice. Implementing an IPE day on this scale required students to rotate through multiple concurrent activities, making use of both the clinical skills and simulation centre and the entire faculty teaching building. The activities included six multifaceted interprofessional simulations, a virtual escape room experience, an AI-generated problem-based learning exercise, team-building activities, and a large-group virtual simulation employing Oxford Medical Simulation® technology.

Methods:

Within the context of a broader nursing study titled ‘Evaluating, Developing, and Generating Evidence for Quality (EDGE Q),’ ethical approval was obtained to conduct exploratory evaluative research involving student nurse and midwifery participating in the IPE day. Participants were invited to complete a validated evaluative questionnaire (Interprofessional Collaborative Competency Attainment Scale) and answer some free-text questions about their experiences of the day. As such, quantitative and qualitative data were collected and subjected to descriptive statistical analysis and thematic analysis.

Results:

Forty nursing students and 9 midwifery students completed the questionnaires. Results identified that students benefited from their participation in the day, specifically in relation to promoting communication, teamwork, and collaboration. Students enjoyed the interactive, varied, and innovative teaching approaches and working with students from other programmes.

Discussion:

Implementation of a large-scale IPE day required strategic planning and leadership, and investment from all staff across the faculty. Creating large group activities assisted in managing the significant student numbers, whilst engagement in the smaller activities ensured that learning remained relevant and meaningful.

Ethics statement:

Authors confirm that all relevant ethical standards for research conduct and dissemination have been met. The submitting author confirms that relevant ethical approval was granted, if applicable.

References

1. Bogossian F, New K, George K. The implementation of interprofessional education: a scoping review. Advances in Health Sciences Education. 2023;28:243–277.

2. Lawlis TR, Anson J, Greenfield D. Barriers and enablers that influence sustainable interprofessional education: a literature review. Journal of Interprofessional Care. 2014;28(4):305e310.

3. O’Keefe M, Henderson A, Chick R. Defining a set of common interprofessional learning competencies for health profession students. Medical Teacher. 2017;39(5):463–468.