Nursing, occupational therapy students learn skills, collaboration through interdisciplinary partnership

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — As new students begin working in the field, they are oftentimes hesitant to collaborate with their colleagues, as they don’t want to interfere with patient care. But working together can be an asset—both for co-workers and their patients.

In an interdisciplinary partnership, students from the West Virginia University School of Nursing and the School of Medicine Occupational Therapy program are working together to learn from one another and to hone their skillsets in the WV STEPS Center. Improving communication to enhance patient safety is one of the main goals.

"As occupational therapists and nurses, our focus is on improving someone's health and independence,” said Caitlyn Shaffer, an occupational therapy student. “While working with the nursing students, my eyes were opened tremendously; I noticed how much we can learn from one another to achieve our common goal.”

The partnership was spearheaded by Director of Simulation Christy Barnhart and implemented by Diana Davis, an associate professor in Occupational Therapy; Tonya Payerchin, a clinical education associate professor with the School of Nursing; and Amanda Acord-Vira, an associate professor of Occupational Therapy.

“One of the goals of Interprofessional Education nationally is to improve patient outcomes and safety through improved functioning of the health care team,” Davis said. “This partnership lays important foundation for achieving this.”

Payerchin said there were common skills students could learn together: “They’re practicing hands-on with one another, learning about hygiene, mobility, vital sign assessment, intake and output. The students get to know one another and develop a higher level of comfort working with a colleague.”

For Josh Bazzilla, a first semester sophomore in the nursing program, the experience helped with communication skills.

“When you’re starting out, you focus on your own role and you don’t really know how to ask for assistance,” Bazzilla said. “But this helped open communication, so now when I see an OT, I know what they’re doing and I’m not as afraid to ask.”

Acord-Vira said these disciplines are quite complementary. For example, in an in-patient setting, nurses are with their patients 24 hours a day, while therapy may only be with patients for an hour at a time. Acord-Vira said if each discipline can learn from the other, better patient outcomes can happen as best practices are reinforced.

“We noticed we have different vantage points,” Payerchin said. “Nursing students are often focused on patient care for individuals who need acute care, while OT students are thinking about getting patients home and functioning by themselves. But working together, we can have a really nice mix.”

Acord-Vira agreed, noting how nursing can underscore the importance of preventing infections and stabilization, while OT can demonstrate skills to assist patients with independence.

“Through this partnership, students can learn about each other’s professions and gain a mutual respect and understanding,” Acord-Vira said. “When I was in patient care, some of my best therapy partners were nurses. With OT and nursing, we’re often in the same rooms together, so we want our students to feel comfortable to stay and work together, rather than waiting for medicine to be administered or a therapy session to conclude.”

Cassidy Allison, a sophomore in the nursing program, said she especially enjoyed a transfer lab with the OT students.

“OT helped me see when we can give patients autonomy, the ability to live their own lives, it’s empowering for them.” Allison said. Another nursing student, Nazene Hunter, agreed, noting that the experience made each group more likely to help one another.

“OT helped teach us safe transfers, to allow for patient autonomy, while we were able to teach them patient-oriented care, such as clean up and safety,” Hunter said.

The nursing and OT students will work together again in their junior year for an additional simulation. Other faculty who assist in the labs include Carrie Smith-Bell, Jacob Greenfield, Susan McKenrick, Jodie Rose and Beth Stiles.

“Nursing may have expertise in some areas, while OT may have expertise in other areas,” Acord-Vira said. “We’re trying to combine those skillsets, so students become highly skilled at their scopes of practice.”

-WVU-

CONTACT: Wendy Holdren
Director of Communications and Marketing
WVU School of Nursing
304-581-1772; wendy.holdren@hsc.wvu.edu