collaboration had
to be available online.
DEVELOPING STUDENT RESOURCES
Faculty next turned to the task of identifying resources
to enable students to develop the presentations. Although
therapeutic communication between patients
and health professionals was taught in both programs,
there was nothing in either curriculum specific to
interprofessional communication strategies. Because
modeling effective teamwork and communication has
been shown to promote student satisfaction with team
experiences,12 a script was developed, and a video was
recorded that showed how listening, willingness to be
assertive, and respectful communication between a
pharmacist and an NP prescriber averted a major
medication error. The same scenario was repeated with
the same faculty actors, showing that impatience,
rudeness, and inattention in the same situation led to an
error resulting in patient harm. A brief publication
developed by the American Association of Critical-
Care Nurses13 titled “Silence Kills” was required
reading for the module because it highlighted the
importance of speaking up when health care colleagues
cut corners, demonstrate incompetence, or make
mistakes. Because the pharmacy students were clinical
novices, their faculty member provided them with
team member dynamics training adapted from Crucial
Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High.14
This training encouraged respect for others, emotional
intelligence, and the use of shared dialogue to develop
mutual understanding and positive resolutions.
Another video was developed outlining the steps
involved in performing a root cause analysis. It was
posted online along with a typeable cause and effect
(fishbone) diagram to help students visualize the
medication error in their case studies graphically. The
root cause analysis template developed by The Joint
Commission was included to provide a reporting
structure for student presentations.10 Finally, faculty
developed medication error case studies for each
interprofessional student team through an iterative
process to ensure that each contained elements of
responsibility by both an NP provider and a pharmacist.
The case studies incorporated common issues such
as posthospitalization medication reconciliation,
look-alike/soundalike drugs, warfarin adjustment
by multiple providers, and multicultural communication
(Table 1).
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