Photo by Will Kirk/Homewood PhotographyTalk about collaboration! For one year, four free, online learning modules will offer schools of nursing across Maryland the chance to maximize interprofessional education, or IPE, through simulations that feature nursing, medical, and pharmacy students working together to respond to challenging scenarios like a fire in a long-term care facility or pain management where there is a history of substance abuse.The idea behind the project, led by the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and Notre Dame Maryland University’s pharmacy school, is that faculty will add what they’ve learned to their curricula, leading to more-prepared nurses (and doctors and pharmacists) entering the work force.“When we reach 15 faculty who each reach 35 or so students, then we have reached a total of 525 future nurses, and so on,” says Elizabeth “Ibby” Tanner, principal investigator for the project. “You can see the impact of interprofessional training for schools that lack such opportunities.”“You can see the impact of interprofessional training for schools that lack such opportunities.”
— Elizabeth “Ibby” TannerThe only catch for users: They must do self-evaluations and report back so the impact of the modules can be evaluated as part of a Nurse Support Program (NSP) II grant from the state.
To access the modules, schools can visit nursing.jhu.edu/IPEmodules