A large, system-based, accredited transition-to-practice program for Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) and Physician Assistants (PAs ), known as the Advanced Practice Provider (APP) fellowship, expanded the program into the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of the Children’s Hospital in late 2022. During the same year, the PICU launched a medical fellowship program. With both programs in their infancy stages, the APP Fellowship faculty and the PICU Medical Fellowship program leaders recognized the benefits of collaborative learning and created ongoing opportunities to come together to improve clinical and nonclinical skills.
Simulations for the APP Fellowship are performed monthly to imitate common situations within the pediatric critical care population, aligning to accreditation standards and simulation philosophy of the system-wide fellowship program. As part of the collaboration between the APP and medical fellowships, the medical fellows are invited to attend and/or participate and are encouraged to function as the attending physician. This structure highlights teamwork and communication during the simulation and allows for meaningful discussions and education during the debrief.
The foundation of collaboration allowed APP and Medical fellowship faculty to create an experience to improve teamwork, communication, and work with other interprofessional groups. Faculty developed a cross-PICU fellowship didactic day centering curriculum on the cardiovascular system and included two high-fidelity, complex simulations involving post operative cardiac patients. These simulations included faculty as facilitators, APP and medical fellows as simulation learners, experienced registered nurses (RNs) from the PICU as active participants, and an APRN from the pediatric cardiology office to observe and contribute to debrief discussions. During simulation, interprofessional team members assumed their own professional roles. During debrief faculty highlighted strengths and opportunities for professionalism, team dynamics, and patient management.
Quantitative feedback reflects increases in the fellows’ knowledge and overall satisfaction with the experience, with a self-reported increase in competency of 39% (Kirkpatrick’s Level 2 data) and a mean satisfaction of 5 out of 5 on a 5-point Likert scale (Kirkpatrick’s Level 1 data). Additionally, qualitative feedback shows satisfaction with inclusion of all fellows, team collaboration, and ability to work with learner’s strengths during complex, acute events .
Creating opportunities for intentional interprofessional collaboration meets the curricular requirements for interprofessional education for both the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME ) and Advanced Practice Provider Fellowship Accreditation (APPFA). The emphasis on collaborative learning is increasingly important as healthcare systems work to successfully grow multiple types of learners across different settings.
In support of improving patient care, this activity is planned and implemented by The National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education Office of Interprofessional Continuing Professional Development (National Center OICPD). The National Center OICPD is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
As a Jointly Accredited Provider, the National Center is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. The National Center maintains responsibility for this course. Social workers completing this course receive continuing education credits.
The National Center OICPD (JA#: 4008105) is approved by the Board of Certification, Inc. to provide continuing education to Athletic Trainers (ATs).
This activity was planned by and for the healthcare team, and learners will receive Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE) credit for learning and change.
Physicians: The National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education designates this live activity for AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with their participation.
Physician Assistants: The American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) accepts credit from organizations accredited by the ACCME.
Nurses: Participants will be awarded contact hours of credit for attendance at this workshop.
Nurse Practitioners: The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Program (AANPCP) accepts credit from organizations accredited by the ACCME and ANCC.
Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians: This activity is approved for contact hours.
Athletic Trainers: This program is eligible for Category A hours/CEUs. ATs should claim only those hours actually spent in the educational program.
Social Workers: As a Jointly Accredited Organization, the National Center is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. The National Center maintains responsibility for this course. Social workers completing this course receive continuing education credits.
IPCE: This activity was planned by and for the healthcare team, and learners will receive Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE) credits for learning and change.
Learners can claim CE credit by completing the Daily Evaluation.
