College of Nursing faculty develop a comprehensive understanding of interprofessional education (IPE) and interprofessional collaboration (IPC) through regular professional development opportunities. They then promote and implement IPE and IPC into their areas of teaching and learning, practice and research.

“Interprofessional collaboration has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my nursing career. I have seen first-hand the positive impact of IPC on client care and this has fuelled my passion for creating interprofessional education opportunities for students. I have been fortunate to be part of a dedicated team of local health care and social science faculty who come together to plan a variety of student IPE opportunities for students across nine different disciplines. Students repeatedly report that they value these opportunities to learn with, from and about other disciplines. This is reflected in the following student quote: “I liked having the opportunity to collaborate with other professional students. Everyone was able to learn from each other and get a better understanding of everyone’s roles”.”
Karen Jukes, Assistant Professor, College of Nursing, Regina Campus

“Working with different health care disciplines within interprofessional teams can be very effective for the delivery of holistic care and can also be rewarding for the participants. Patients, clients and communities can benefit from support given by different professionals attending to their unique needs, as they all work together as one team. Each discipline has a unique perspective that they bring to the situation that may complement and enhance the success of all team members and ultimately assist in providing more effective patient care and community enhancement. There are many professional rewards, as the disciplines are working in a unified way and learning from each other as they interact with these populations. As a nurse researcher, my experiences have been enriched by working with my colleagues from different professions, such as physio therapy, practical nursing, occupational therapy, nutrition, social work, medicine etc.. Together synergy occurs and we are a stronger more cohesive and effective team as we work with our patients, clients and community members to meet their goals.”
June Anonson, Professor, College of Nursing, Prince Albert Campus

“An interprofessional community development model has been used to enhance the sustainability of the 10-year project I have been working on. This community-engaged partnership has led to experiential learning opportunities for nursing students. The ongoing collaboration in the interprofessional team provides experiential learning opportunities that enhances interprofessional student learning beyond the classroom, such as advocacy and intervention for youth with developmental disabilities. This project also involves collaboration and education for university students from multiple disciplines to develop professional competencies that contribute to interprofessional practice and education.”
Lee Murray, Associate Professor, College of Nursing, Saskatoon Campus

Initiatives

The University of Saskatchewan’s (U of S) Provost’s Prize for Innovative Practice in Collaborative Teaching and Learning is awarded to a department, non-departmentalized college or interdisciplinary team for group innovation in teaching and learning. We are proud to announce College of Nursing’s Dr. Hope Bilinski, along with an interdisciplinary team from the School of Physical Therapy, the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition and the College of Medicine, have been named as the recipients of this award for 2017.

A collaboration between nursing, dentistry and ophthalmology earned a group of individuals a national award for eHealth. The interprofessional team consisting of Drs. Jill Bally, Shelley Spurr, Lorna Butler and Mr. Mark Tomtene (College of Nursing), Ophthalmologist Dr. Shahab Khan and Dr. Alyssa Hayes (College of Dentistry) were the proud recipients of the inaugural 2015 Faculty Interprofessional eHealth Award from Canada Health Infoway.

College of Nursing faculty member Dr. Lee Murray has been working with community partners for over 10 years to educate adolescents with developmental disabilities about safe environments and healthy relationships. The program provides students with educational resources and teaches students about healthy peer relationships. Approximately 8-10 university students from a variety of colleges at the U of S will receive the training and education to deliver this program.

Imagine walking into a space where a local health provider, citizen and community elder are working together over a microscope and discussing a recent outbreak of a water-borne disease in their community. This is what a Citizen Centre for One Health Research, Innovation and Surveillance envisions for communities. College of Nursing Professor Dr. Pammla Petrucka, along with Dr. Phil Woods (College of Nursing), Drs. Tasha Epp and Emily Jenkins (Western College of Veterinary Medicine) and collaborator Dr. Joram Buza (Nelson Mandela African Institute of Science and Technology) came together on the Join the C2OHRIS: Citizen Centres for One Health Research, Innovation and Surveillance project and were awarded one of four 2014 University of Saskatchewan One Health Development Grants in the amount of $20,000.

The collaboration of faculty from the College of Nursing and College of Dentistry resulted in the receipt of the Provost's Project Grant for Innovative Practice in Collaborative Teaching and Learning in 2013. The interprofessional team received the $10,000 grant for their project entitled "Northern Innovative Teaching and Learning Practice in Pediatric Nursing Education: Caring For Kids Where They Live", a project which engaged northern Aboriginal nursing students in supporting oral health care for northern children.

An interprofessional pain day symposium, organized by a collaboration of multiple health science professionals is held annually in Regina, Saskatchewan. College of Nursing faculty member Karen Jukes contributes her time and energy to fulfill this endeavour. The interprofessional pain day brings together multiple health care experts, as well as patients and families to speak to health science students regarding pain. The goal is to increase awareness, understanding and quality care. The evaluations completed by the students were published and the collaboration between multiple health care professionals continues today.

Professional Development

There is clear evidence of a strong commitment and engagement to interprofessional education within the College of Nursing. Faculty, staff and instructors possess a strong desire to advance IPE in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing curriculum. This is evident by their participation in diverse IPE professional development opportunities and the implementation of IPE activities into their theory and clinical courses taught throughout the program.

By examining a snap shot of various faculty initiatives and activities to advance IPE at our province-wide campuses, we were able to determine faculty are integrating IPE in a variety of ways. They incorporate evidence informed practice by searching research and literature, advance their practice by building strong relationships in mentorship with multiple professionals, strive for excellence in research and publication with collaboration of other health science professionals and they continually examine current states with development of practice, education and research for the future.

An environmental scan took place in January 2015 in the College of Nursing. This scan revealed a multitude of diverse examples of IPE activities and achievements. The strong commitment and engagement to interprofessional education within the College of Nursing by faculty and staff was clearly evident. Faculty across the province regularly participate in IPE continuing education/in-services, conduct interprofessional research, present at interprofessional conferences and publish in peer reviewed journals relating to IPE/IPC.

The College of Nursing Myrtle Crawford Memorial Lectureship series welcomed Dr. Ivy Oandasan to Saskatchewan in 2015 for a variety of interprofessional education events. “We have been very fortunate to have someone like Dr. Oandasan, an internationally recognized leader in IPE, here to speak with us about strategies and structures that contribute to a successful IPE curriculum,” said Associate Dean Dr. Hope Bilinksi.

The Educating Health Professionals in Interprofessional Care (EHPIC) Certificate Course: Advancing the Future of Healthcare through Interprofessional Learning was delivered as a three day course for health professionals, educators and leaders in 2015. This event allowed for nine University of Saskatchewan Colleges to participate and the College of Nursing supported 18 College of Nursing staff and faculty to attend. 

Below are a few quotes from participants following the course.

“This [EHPIC Course] was a phenomenal experience. Your expertise was very much appreciated, keep up the great work.”

“Great energy/commitment to the topics. Love the focus on facilitation/process in the context of IPE. Thank you ‐ not only have I learned a lot of IPE; I have also learned so many new approaches to improve my own teaching.”