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Bringing Interprofessional Teams Together Through Technology to Create Solutions for Healthcare

Lead Principal Investigator: Dr. Margaret Pierce, College of Nursing
Principal Investigator: Dr. Xueping Li, Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering

Project Amount: $1.08M

Project Abstract:
This application for the Advanced Education Program Grant (HRSA-12-061) is to support the University of Tennessee (UT), College of Nursing (CON) in Knoxville to develop an innovative interprofessional education experience for advanced practice nursing students. The purpose is to integrate clinical simulation, distance education, and delivery of care using telehealth into interprofessional education (IPE) opportunities for graduate advanced practice nursing students along with graduate medical, pharmacy, and industrial engineering students. Graduate students in these four professions will learn together to utilize and evaluate telehealth technology in the delivery of patient care. We propose to launch the first IPE effort at UT that aligns with the Advanced Nursing Education (ANE) statutory purpose and infuses technology that will promote patient safety, high quality care, improved health care delivery, and access to care. A unique component of this project is the integrated participation of faculty and students from industrial engineering in all phases. This project will provide students from the four professional groups the opportunity to use telehealth technology in the delivery of health care to children in a school-based clinic that primarily serves children with difficulty accessing health care. Using online and distance education with interprofessional teams will allow students to engage in the learning process with one another, even when schedules preclude synchronous learning activities.

The specific objectives of this project are to:
1. Develop interprofessional teams of students representing the four professions;
2. Demonstrate the ability for IPE student teams to solve clinical problems in simulated patient scenarios;
3. Provide appropriate safe and effective healthcare to underserved patients utilizing telehealth technology to provide this care; and
4. Evaluate each phase of the interprofessional educational experience.

We will bring students together from Advanced Practice Nursing, Medicine, Pharmacy, and Industrial Engineering to learn in simulated and patient care clinical environments for 8-week intensive rotations. They will utilize web-based and face-to-face team education, simulations, and telehealth team-based clinical education in delivery of care at underserved school-based clinics. The home base for the telehealth IPE experiences will be at a nurse-managed clinic run by the UT CON that provides primary care services to uninsured and underinsured children. By the end of the 3-year grant period, a total of 168 students will participate in this project.

We are requesting funding preference because it substantially benefits underserved populations. Clients at the school-based clinics, where patient care will be provided, are underserved and live in a Health Professions Shortage Area (HPSA). Currently depending on the school, 67-100% of the children receive subsidized lunches at the selected schools and most are from uninsured or underinsured families.

Please visit HRSA website for more information: http://www.hrsa.gov/index.html