Ms Julie-Anne Ross1, Ms Thomina Tanner1
1Qld Health Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, 199 Ipswich Rd, Woolloongabba Qld, Australia
Biography:
Julie-Anne Ross is an Occupational Therapist and Advanced Health Practitioner (Workforce Development) who works at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Queensland. She has experience within the public sector in workforce development, digital health, clinical skills and management.
Thomina Tanner is a Senior Social Work Clinician and Advanced Health Practitioner Allied Health Workforce Development and completed a Graduate Certificate in Clinical Redesign. Thomina has 10 years’ experience in clinical, clinical education, management and project roles, and is passionate about workforce development and interprofessional collaboration.
Abstract:
This inaugural activity involved 115 second year medical students attending 1,610 discrete observational placements with allied health and nursing professionals within 46 departments at a quaternary hospital to provide interprofessional collaboration (IPC) opportunities. Observational placements allow medical students to shadow allied health and nursing professionals while they undertake clinical practice. The learning aims of these placements include:
– To experience the work of other members of the interprofessional healthcare team.
– To gain exposure to a range of allied health and nursing professionals.
– To observe clinical communication skills – processes of history taking, examination, investigation, diagnosis, and management.
– To observe interactions between members of the healthcare team.
– Build mutual respect and trust between professionals.
There is strong research evidence that interprofessional collaboration leads to better patient outcomes, improved workforce indicators, and improved organisational outcomes.
Learnings from this initiative include the importance of collaborative and trusting relationships and mutual respect between the University and the hospital to overcome challenges, clear communication and negotiating achievable learning opportunities that benefitted the hospital, and the University are essential and ensuring the initiative considered the impact on clinician workload and patient safety and outcomes.
Challenges made this initiative difficult to implement, such as quaternary hospital, workforce pressures and shortages, limited physical space, pressure to take medical students in addition to allied health and nursing students, timetabling of observational placements to meet University and hospital availability, ongoing large-scale projects impacting on time and energy to participate in new initiatives.