The impact of an online interprofessional course in disaster management competency and attitude towards interprofessional learning.
A recent national assessment of emergency planning in Canada suggests that health care professionals are not properly prepared for disasters. In response to this gap, an interprofessional course in disaster management was developed, implemented and evaluated in Toronto, Canada from 2007 to 2008. Undergraduate students from five educational institutions in nursing, medicine, paramedicine, police, media and health administration programs took an eight-week online course. The course was highly interactive and included video, a discussion forum, an online board game and opportunity to participate in a high fidelity disaster simulation with professional staff. Curriculum developers set interprofessional competency as a major course outcome and this concept guided every aspect of content and activity development. A study was conducted to examine change in students' perceptions of disaster management competency and interprofessional attitudes after the course was completed. Results indicate that the course helped students master basic disaster management content and raised their awareness of, and appreciation for, other members of the interdisciplinary team. The undergraduate curriculum must support the development of collaborative competencies and ensure learners are prepared to work in collaborative practice.
Descriptive statistics using SAS were calculated for items on the demographic survey to provide a participant profile.Content (thematic) analysis
Surveys
Themes: Teamwork and CollaborationImproved readiness for practice during a disasterAwakening to interprofessional practiceInsight into the client perspectiveDevelopment of new inventions and activitiesReadiness for Interprofessional Learning Survey
undergraduate students in health and allied fields from five large,urban educational institutions.Three surveys were administered: a demographic survey, a disaster management competency surveyA quasi-experimental study using surveys was conducted using a pre-test, post-test design used to measure learners’ perceptions of change in their disaster management competencyThe research design may be described as triangulated as both survey and focus group methods were used.
The sample included undergraduate students in health and allied fields from five large, urban educational institutions.
examine change in students’ perceptions of disaster management competency and interprofessional attitudesAn interprofessional course in disaster management was developed, implemented and evaluated in Toronto
It is possible that students, completing the two, 29-item post-course RIPLS surveys, one directly after another, did not read the negatively worded items carefully and demonstrated response set bias.
It is essential that undergraduate students engage in interprofessional learning with their future colleagues to ultimately improve the quality of care and assistance provided during a disaster.
The study was approved by all partner ethics review committees. Participants provided informed consent for the study
The purpose of the study was to examine change in disaster management (DM) competency and inter-professional (IP) attitudes after students completed the online course and simulation with a view to enhancing IP and DM practice.
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