Measuring Attitudes of Clinical Laboratory Science (CLS) Students

ABSTRACT

The current complex environment of healthcare demands a comprehensive and collaborative approach in which teamwork and collaboration are paramount. Recommendation by the National Academy of Medicine on improving diagnosis in healthcare is “Facilitate more effective teamwork in the diagnostic process among healthcare professionals, patients, and their families.” The objective of this study was to determine the readiness of Clinical Laboratory Science (CLS) students to participate in interprofessional simulation. The revised Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) was chosen to assess CLS student’s attitudes toward interprofessional education before and after participating in an interprofessional simulation. We had 50 master’s degree CLS students participate in the simulations and complete the surveys. The simulation was a large-scale, multipatient interprofessional scenario that occurred in a simulated intensive care unit. In addition to the RIPLS items and demographics, we asked if students had previous experience with interprofessional simulation and if students have worked in healthcare. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS. Our student population had an average age of 26.7 years (SD = 5.25; median age = 25; range = 20), was 70% female, and was 46% White. In addition, 26% had experience in interprofessional simulation, whereas 48% had worked in healthcare. Students’ scores were high in all questions of RIPLS subscales but the questions belonging to the Negative Professional ID (inverted scale) and for the Roles and Responsibilities subscales. University of Alabama at Birmingham CLS students seem ready to learn in interprofessional teams. Faculty in CLS programs should provide interprofessional experiences for their students.