Training For A Safer Health Care System - 1172 Words

Simulation-Enhanced Interprofessional Education in Health Professional Schools Technological innovations are influencing education strategies and specifically advancing the domain of health professional education. Simulation is becoming more popular as a means to provide innovative learning experiences and foster understanding of didactic content, as well as offer an avenue for students to refine their collaborative practice skills. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) in its report, To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health Care System, recommended simulation training as a teaching strategy that can prevent future errors in the clinical setting (Kohn, Corrigan, Donaldson, 2000). The report states that â€Å"health care organizations and teaching†¦show more content†¦In fact, when healthcare professionals understand each others’ roles and are able to communicate and work together effectively, patients are more likely to receive safe, quality care. In 2013, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a set of guidelines entitled Transforming and Scali ng up Health Professionals’ Education and Training. â€Å"Transformative scaling up of health professionals’ education and training is defined as the sustainable expansion and reform of health professionals’ education and training to increase the quantity, quality and relevance of health professionals, and in so doing strengthen the country health systems and improve population health outcomes† (WHO, 2013, p. 11). The recommendations presented target the health professional workforce and aim at addressing the complex and evolving needs of populations around the world. Two of the recommendations were about the use of simulation methods in the education of health professionals and the implementation of IPE in undergraduate and graduate programs. The more recent IOM report (2011), Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health, provides direction for nurse educators to incorporate simulation in their teaching strategies and promote interprofessional l earning experiences. Educators in health professional schools face real challenges when training students to become experts in caring for patients with complex