Researchers from UICOMR helped develop standardized simulation activities

standardized simulation activities

A team of researchers that includes faculty from University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford participated in a study designed to help students develop skills for discharging patients while working as a interdisciplinary team.

The hope is the study, published in the journal Clinical Simulation in Nursing and called Measuring student competency in an interprofessional education hospital discharge simulation, will translate to better patient care and help reduce re-admissions and other adverse patient outcomes. As part of the study, the team created an interprofessional simulation to practice hospital discharge for nursing, medical and pharmacy students.

The principal investigators for the study were Dawn Mosher, DNP, RN, CHSE, an assistant professor at OSF Healthcare Saint Anthony College of Nursing in Rockford, and Radhika Sreedhar, MD, MS, FACPMS, an associate professor of clinical medicine at the University of Illinois College of Medicine Chicago. Joining them from UICOMR were Paul Chastain, PhD, a clinical associate professor and associate director of simulation events; Linda Chang, PharmD, BCPS, CDE, MPH, an associate professor of clinical family medicine; and Martin MacDowell, DrPH, MBA, MS, a research professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine.

The project was funded from the UIC-OSF Community Health Advocacy Program, a partnership between UIC and the Jump Simulation & Education Center at OSF HealthCare, which brings together faculty researchers and health care professionals to develop innovative solutions to health-related problems in an urban community. The teams work together to hypothesize, test and redesign tools, techniques and processes used by caregivers every day to find new solutions aimed at improving access and quality of care.