Interprofessional education for internationally educated health professionals: an environmental scan

Characteristics of U.S. Baccalaureate Health Informatics Programs

BACKGROUND

 Health informatics (HI) is a growing field of study, yet sparse data are available on the characteristics of undergraduate HI programs in the United States. The lack of a central location for U.S. HI undergraduate program data has led to a gap in information to support current efforts to promote academic standards in the field and attract potential students.

OBJECTIVES

 The objective of this study was to perform an environment scan of colleges and universities within the United States and Puerto Rico to identify undergraduate programs in HI including majors, minors, and undergraduate-level certificates.

METHODS

 Potential institutions offering HI programs were identified from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the Commission for Accreditation of Health Informatics and Health Information Management Education (CAHIIM), the Association of University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA), the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), and the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA). Publicly available materials for these institutions were reviewed, and data were captured for identified HI programs including geographic location; college or school in which the program was offered; type of degree (if applicable); program title; total credits to complete the program; delivery format; and source of data.

RESULTS

 A total of 83 HI programs were identified from 60 institutions and 26 states. The primary finding of this environment scan was that inconsistencies exist among U.S. HI undergraduate programs including variations in offering college/school, title of program, number of credits required, delivery formats, CIP codes, and the type of information published on university/college websites.

CONCLUSION

 This environment scan was a first step in exploring the characteristics of undergraduate HI programs within the United States. Further research is needed on the curricular similarities and differences among the programs, the administrative methods of these interdisciplinary programs, and the information most needed by current and potential undergraduate students.

Attending a bridging program to obtain a Swedish nursing license: An interview study with internationally educated nurses

BACKGROUND

Bridging programs have been created to facilitate internationally educated nurses' integration process. Thus far, studies on bridging programs have been few and have only been conducted in English-speaking countries. Due to language barriers, it may be a greater challenge to attend a bridging program in a non-English-speaking country.

OBJECTIVES

The aim was to examine internationally educated nurses' experience of attending a one-year bridging program to obtain a Swedish nursing license.

DESIGN

A qualitative study with a descriptive design was applied.

SETTINGS

The study setting was the five universities offering the one-year, full-time Swedish bridging program.

PARTICIPANTS

Purposive sampling was used. Eighteen nurses participated in the study at the end of the program.

METHODS

Semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed using qualitative content analysis.

RESULTS

Studying in a new environment and language was challenging and intensive, as were adapting to a new healthcare system and relearning some nursing practices. However, attending the bridging program was also rewarding and gave feelings of happiness and pride; the nurses developed their nursing skills as well as their language and academic skills. Moreover, they became familiar with Sweden's nursing practices, healthcare system, and culture. Good support was important, but not always enough.

CONCLUSIONS

By attending a bridging program, nurses can become familiar with the country's healthcare system and nursing practices. Moreover, develop their language skills and attain skills important to lifelong learning. Although the program may not eliminate all difficulties nurses often experience in a new country, it can offer the support nurses need to handle the challenges. However, for some nurses, due to different backgrounds and prerequisites, the support offered may need to be more individualized.

Interprofessional Competency Toolkit for Internationally Educated Health Professionals: Evaluation and Pilot Testing

INTRODUCTION

Internationally Educated Health Professionals (IEHPs) constitute a major health care workforce in Canada. Interprofessional education is particularly important for IEHPs to integrate into the Canadian health care system. We designed an online interprofessional education curriculum for IEHPs. The curriculum is designed to cover the six interprofessional competency domains defined in the Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative National Interprofessional Competency Framework. In this article, we are presenting findings from the pilot testing of the curriculum with a cohort of IEHPs and educators.

METHODS

We conducted surveys and interviews with IEHPs and educators from four provinces (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba). We aimed to include seven healthcare professionals: licensed practical nurses, registered nurses, registered psychiatric nurses, pharmacists, physicians, occupational therapists, and physical therapists. We also used a pre- post- self-assessment tool and a set of reflective questions to measure the effectiveness of the curriculum.

RESULTS

Thirty IEHPs and five educators reviewed the online curriculum and participated in this evaluation. Postintervention confidence scores for all items under the role clarification and patient-centered care domains increased significantly (P = <0.01) after module completion. The scores also increased for most questions in team functioning, collaborative leadership, and communication domains. The postassessment scores increased for only half of the questions in conflict management domains. Participants agreed with the appropriateness of the content in terms of language, scenarios, and cultural aspects covered in the online curriculum on interprofessional education.

DISCUSSION

The content of the curriculum improved IEHPs' understanding of interprofessional collaboration in Canada. The interprofessional curriculum is a creative and useful resource to improve collaborative practice among internationally educated health professionals in Canada.