Interprofessional Education Readiness with Undergraduate Nursing and Health Information Management Students at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Background: The need for interprofessional education (IPE) in the health professions has been recognized for many years with the intent to move related health disciplines toward more collaborative efforts. Methods: This explanatory sequential mixed methods study evaluated IPE readiness in Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and Health Information Management (HIM) students at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette before and after an introductory IPE workshop titled "IPE is Key." Of the total 1,003 BSN and HIM students, 109 voluntarily participated in the workshop, with 78 completing the pre- and post-assessment for a response rate of 71.6% of attendees and 7.8% of all BSN and HIM students who fit the inclusion criteria. Results: Analysis of pre- and post-workshop assessment scores revealed a statistically-significant increase in IPE readiness of participants (p<0.001). Findings support the implementation of an annual introductory workshop for early BSN and HIM students, with potential expansion to other health professions. Findings of the study were utilized to develop the "IPE is Key" Instructor's Guide, which provides educators the necessary information to deliver engaging IPE activities shown to enhance students' readiness to learn collaboratively. Conclusions: This study's findings highlight the need for an annual introductory IPE workshop for early BSN and HIM learners, with the potential to include other health related professions students at UL Lafayette. The findings also suggest that the introductory workshop may improve readiness for and satisfaction with the Fall-semester IPHE 310 interprofessional academic course, which includes BSN and HIM students.